A Dyslexic Ranger
by sweetredranger
Summary: (Prequal To Samurai Undercover) The day Traci De La Rosa has nervously been waiting for has arrived. She received the message arrow and now has to become a ranger. The only problem is she believes that she won't fit in with the others because of her learning disability and the fact that she parents are divorced. How will she handle this new chapter in her life?
1. Getting The Message arrow

**AN: The drawing of the silver ranger on the cover was done by another writer on Wattpad eddmspy**

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Chapter 1 Getting the Message arrow

Normal POV

Fourteen years have passed, since the divorce. Roslyn De La Rosa is the kitchen, in their room at the Tellico Halfway House. She is putting the groceries away while she waits for her daughter, Traci, to come home from the library. Meanwhile, at the library, Traci walks up to the main desk. She takes the book she needs to return out of her book bag. The librarian, Hallie Frazier, her black eyes looks up from the computer.

"Hello, Traci, what did you think of The Perks of Being a Wallflower?" Hallie asks.

"I loved it," Traci says.

"I printed out a list of books that you may like," Hallie says.

Hallie hands her the list. Traci takes a folder out of her bag and puts it in one of the pockets, closes the folder before putting it away. She zips her bag back before putting it back on her shoulder.

"Thank you, I'll look at it later, I want to look around but I can't. I promised my mom that I would just come here to return the book, and that's all I'm going to do." Traci says. "I wish there were more kids out there like you," Hallie says.

"I know the world would be a lot nicer," Traci says.

Traci leaves and decides to take the long way back from the library to check to see if her training area was intact after the big storm a few nights ago. She arrives to see her shelter, scattered all over the ground.

"I guess I have a lot of cleaning up to do when I come back tomorrow," Traci says.

She turns around to head back down the path. She hears a thump when the message arrow hits the tree. She walks over to the tree to remove it from the trunk. She takes off her bookbag and puts it in the section where her library book was.

"I can't believe this is happening. I'm happy that graduation was last week. I guess I won't be coming back here again after all." Traci says.

She puts it back on her back and continues 'home'. Traci walks to the Tellico Halfway House and one of the staff, Samantha Lopez, walks up to her.

"Hi Traci," Samantha says.

"Hi, Ms. Lopez, have you seen my mom?" Traci asks.

"Yes, I saw her going to your room with some groceries a few minutes ago," Samantha says.

"Thanks," Traci says.

Traci heads to the room that she and her mom are living in, and opens the door.

"Mom, I'm back," Tracy says.

"I'm in the kitchen sweetie," Roslyn says.

Tracy walks into the kitchen. Tracy sets the arrow and her bookbag on the table. She sits down. She watches her mom put the last can in the cupboard. Roslyn walks over to the table. Traci unzips her bag and sets the message arrow down.

"Mom, does this mean that it is time for me to join the samurai rangers? " Traci asks.

"Yes, sweetie," Roslyn says.

"Mom, I can't be a ranger, I'm not ready," Traci says.

"Honey, I know you're worried about how things will go because of your dyslexia. What You need to remember is that you're part of a team, and team members always support each other ." Roslyn says.

Roslyn leaves the room. She comes back with a small bag filled with a few things to help her daughter during her journey as a samurai ranger. Traci takes the bag from her mom. She opens it, and the snow leopard climbs out. It stands next to the bag. Traci closes the bag and puts it on her back. She holds out her hand, and the zord jumps into it and returns to its hexagon origami form. She puts it in the pocket of her coat. She hugs her mom goodbye. Ms. De La Rosa gives Traci one last thing the plane ticket to Panorma City. She puts in her other pocket and leaves the house. After Traci's plane lands at the Panorma City airport, she walks out the front door to see a car with the Shiba emblem on it. She gets inside to see one of her new teammates sitting in the back seat. Traci takes sets her bag on the floor and sits down next to her.

"Hi, I'm Mia, I'm the pink ranger, what's your name?

"Hi Mia, I'm Tracy De La Rosa, the silver ranger. It's nice to meet you."Traci says.

Ten minutes later the car comes to a stop when the driver hears someone telling him to stop. Traci rolls down her window.

"Hi, I'm Kevin, I'm the blue ranger. I came here to fight with you and follow you into battle." Kevin says.

"I'm sorry Kevin, but I'm not the red ranger, I am the silver," Traci says.

Traci and Mia get out. They talk for a while trying to guess who the Red Ranger is. Traci hears running footfalls, so she looks over Kevin's shoulder to see a girl wearing a necklace that uses her zord a the charm run up.

"Hi, I'm Emily, are any of you, the red ranger?" Emily asks.

"Sorry, I'm blue," Kevin says.

"Pink," Mia says.

"Silver," Traci says.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Emily says.

A few seconds later, Traci sees another one of her teammates walk up. This boy gave Traci a prankster vibe.

"Hey, you guys must be my new crew," Mike says.

"So, I have a feeling that you are the green ranger, right?" Traci says.

"Yup, I'm Mike, the might green ranger," Mike says.

The group hears a horse whinny, so they turn around. They see a boy with brown hair ride up. He makes the horse rear up before showing them his zord with a red fire symbol on it. Jayden introduces himself. He takes the Samuraizer out of the saddle bag.

"I'll give you this only if you're 100% committed to fighting as a Samurai Ranger," Jayden says.

"I'm with you all the way," Kevin says.

"Me too," Mike says.

Mia and Emily say the same thing. Jayden tosses them their morphers. Jayden walks over to Traci

"Wait a second, Jayden," Traci gasps.

"Traci, I can't believe that I didn't recognize you, how have you been?" Jayden asks.

"Good," Traci says.

"How do you two know each other," Kevin asks.

"I came here once when I was five." Traci answers. "I'm with you too, but I rather you hand me my morpher."

"How come," Jayden asks.

"I'm not very good at sports." Traci says.

"Gotcha," Jayden says.

Jayden hand Traci her morpher, and walks back to his horse.

"Let's go," Jayden says.

"Go where exactly?" Emily asks.

"To the Shiba House," Jayden says.

"Okay, are we taking the car?" Traci asks.

"No, it would be faster if we ride a horse." Jayden says.

"Sweet," Mike says.

"Yeah, I love riding horses," Emily says.

"Not me," Traci whispers.

The group draws the symbol, and their horses appear. Jayden gets on his horse and notices that Traci didn't draw the symbol.

"Traci, how come you didn't draw the symbol?" Jayden asks.

"I don't know it," Traci lies.

"I guess that you'll have to ride double with me." Jayden says.

"Okay, you're the leader." Traci says.

Traci walks over to him. Jayden holds out his hand. Traci grabs it, and he pulls her up on his horse. She puts her arms around his waist. Then the group rides off. Jayden feels Traci tighten her grip when they get a few feet down the road. Traci didn't know she was squeezing the air from his lungs.

"Traci, are you okay?" Jayden asks.

"Yes, I'm fine, why?" Traci answers.

"Because you're holding on a bit too tight. I can't breathe," Jayden says, as he gasps for air.

"Sorry," Traci apologizes as she loosens her grip.

Ten minutes later they arrive at the Shiba House. Jayden dismounts and helps Traci down.

"Thanks for the ride," Traci says.

"You're welcome," Jayden says.

Jayden sees Traci's eyes light up seeing the Shiba house again.

"Wow, It's just a beautiful as it was when I stay here before," Traci says.

"We're going to live here?" Emily asks.

"Yes," Jayden says.

Ji walks up to them. Jayden introduces the team to their mentor.

"Welcome, I know that all of you came from different families." JI says.

"I bet those families are made up of two loving parents, unlike the one I have." Traci mumbles to herself.

"The one thing you all have in common is your goal to defeat Master Xandred." Ji says.

Everyone walks inside and goes to their rooms. Traci unpacks her things. She sets a picture of her mom on the nightstand next to her bed, looks over at the deck to see her Vihuela Case and walks over to it. She sees a note taped to the lid. She removes it and reads it.

Traci,

I thought that your new teammates would love to hear the beautiful music you make when I hear whenever you play it for me.

Love,

Mom

"Thanks, mom," Traci says.

She smiles, sets the note down, and continues to unpack. After putting her clothes away in the dresser, she hears a knock on her door.

"Come in," Traci says.

Traci turns around to see Jayden walk in.

"It's time for dinner," Jayden says.

"Okay," Traci says.

Jayden turns around to leave the room. Traci follows him into the kitchen. They enter to see Mia, Kevin, Emily and Mike are sitting at the table. She notices that the table only had four seats.

"Where are we going to sit?" Traci asks.

"There is a bar area next to the sink." Jayden says.

"Okay," Traci says.

They walk over to the bar area and sit down. Ji sets a plate in front of her. Traci sees one of her favorite dinners that her mom makes - Wild Salmon and Potato Casserole.

"No way, how did you know that I this is one of my favorite meals ever." Traci says.

"Your mom stopped by a few days ago and told me." Ji says.

"I was wondering how my Vihuela got here." Traci says.

"What is a Vihuela?" Mike asks.

"It's a guitar except it only has five strings," Traci says.

"Do you think you could play something for us after dinner?" Emily asks.

"I don't know," Traci says.

"Please," Emily says.

"I guess so, since you said please, one more thing the only three people that have heard me play are my mom, my uncle, Jorge and Aunt Adrienne." Traci says.

"What about your dad?" Mia asks.

"My dad was too busy working to care about anything that was going on in my life." Traci says.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ji says.

"My dad didn't want around," Traci says.

"What do mean?" Jayden asks.

"He and my mom would fight a lot. He always told her that I was a disgrace, and didn't deserve to be a member of the family." Traci says.

Mia's heart sank like a stone hearing Traci's last statement. After she recovers the pink ranger walks over to her new friend. Mia gives Traci a hug. Mia's hug felt so much like it would if she were her big sister. Mia lets her go and goes back to her chair. She sits down, and the team eats dinner.

Afterward, they met in the living room. Traci walks carrying her Vihuela case and portable speakers for her iPod. She sets it down on the table. She opens it, takes it out and sits down in her chair. The Vihuela has flower petals around the sound hole. The white and pink petals go around the border of the body of the instrument.

"Wow, Traci, it's beautiful," Mia says.

"Yeah, I can't wait to hear you play it," Emily adds.

Traci tunes it and plays a few scales to make sure it's in the right key for the song she is going to play. She finds the song she needed on her iPod, and presses play. The group hears Amazing Grace start to play. Traci listens carefully, so she knew where she needs to start playing. After the intro ends, they hear the Vihuela music fill the room. Two minutes later the music fades, the silver range hears her teammates and mentor applause. She sets her instrument down on the table.

"Traci, that was beautiful, how long have you been playing it for?" Emily asks.

"Thanks, Emily, I got it for my thirteenth birthday. I'm 17 now, so that would make it..." Traci says.

"Four years," Kevin says.

"Yup," Traci says.

"I have one more idea, how about we go out for ice cream." Mike says.

"Mike, we just ate dinner. Man, your stomach is like a bottomless pit," Traci says.

"I didn't mean right now. I was going to say that we can go out in an hour." Mike says.

"I think I'll pass, I'm not up for ice cream." Traci says.

"Come in Trace, I thought it would be a good way for us to break the ice." Mike says.

"I said that didn't want to go, and there is nothing you can say to persuade me to change my mind." Traci says.

Traci gets up from her chair, puts her Vihuela back in the case and heads to her room. She set the case back on her desk. Then she walks over to the bed and sits down.

"I know that want to be my friends, but it's best for everyone if I don't let them break down the walls I put up." Traci says.


	2. First Battle as the silver ranger

chapter 2: First battle as the Silver Ranger

Normal POV

At the Shiba House, Ji trains the Rangers about their inherited Symbols. Ji stands behind Traci. She starts to get nervous. Her hand shakes from side to side as she paints her symbol. It came out messy, and the symbol doesn't activate.

"I'm sorry Ji," Traci says.

"It's fine, you've apparently mastered the stroke order, and that's the most important part," Ji says.

Mike groans loudly. Ji walks over to the Mike. He watches Mike struggles with his Symbol power.

"Mike, this isn't right," Ji says.

Traci walks over to Ji. She sees Mike's attempts at drawing his symbol.

"Mike, nice try, but the order of the strokes is wrong," Traci says.

"I know, and I'd like to see you do better," Mike says.

"Mike, I can't draw your symbol for you, but I do know how to write your name," Traci says.

"Traci, you know Japanese," Kevin says.

"I can't speak it. I just know how to write it and read it." Traci says.

"Traci, you can show him later. Mike, you need to practice more, okay?" Ji says.

"Okay, how about I try again after lunch," Mike says.

"Mike, I don't think eating some food will help," Traci says.

"How do you know that? " Mike asks.

"My mom always said that food should never be used to fix a problem," Traci says.

Mike just rolls his eyes. A few hours later, Traci is practicing her symbols. She paints the same symbol she did earlier, except this one has crisp, clean lines and activates when she completes the final stroke. Jayden walks outside a few to see a bunch of snowflakes floating around Traci. He walks over to her. "Nice job,"

"Thanks," Traci says.

"How come you couldn't do that earlier?" Jayden says.

"Yeah, let's just say that I have stage fright and leave it at that," Traci says.

Traci picks up the easel and carries it inside. She puts it back where she found it. Jayden heads to the kitchen while Traci heads to her room. The Gap Sensor alerts the Rangers to attack. They run into the living room.

"I thought that my alarm clock buzzer was annoying," Mike says.

"What is that, " Traci says.

"It's the gap sensor," Ji says.

"I guess it tells us when a nighlok escapes?" Traci says.

"It tells us when it comes through a gap to the netherworld," Ji says.

"Where is it?" Traci asks.

"It's at city hall," Ji says.

The Rangers head to the city. The Rangers arrive to see the Nighlok of the day and some Moogers.

"My mom always told me to be nice to everyone and treat them with respect, but there is no way I can be nice to something that strange looking," Traci says.

"Traci, you don't have to, they're evil." Kevin says.

"Hello, Rangers, I'm Scorpionic, Master Xandred sent me here to destroy you," Scorpionic says.

"That's not going to happen, nighlok," Jayden says.

The Rangers morph and charge into the fray. They summon their weapons to clear out the Moogers. Jayden begins the attack Scorpionic. Traci uses the hail symbol. It creates a huge stone. It flies over towards them and knocks Jayden to the ground. The Nighlok takes the opportunity to blast them. Jayden gets to his feet and runs over to his new friends. Traci gets to her feet slowly. A dizzy spell hits her, and she drops to her knees.

"Traci, are you okay?" Mia asks.

"Yeah, I'm all right; I lost for a bit that's all." Traci says as she gets to her feet.

Traci looks to her left to see a little girl hiding behind some rubble.

"Guys, a little girl got left behind." Traci says.

"We need to help her." Mia says.

"I'll help her. You need to finish this battle without me. I'll only mess things up again," Traci says.

"Tracy, don't talk like that," Emily says.

"Yeah, if you created a hail stone that big. You're strong enough to be a Ranger. We need you." Kevin says.

Everyone morphs except for Traci to help Jayden. Traci runs over to the scared little girl.

"Hi, I'm Traci. I'm going to help you, What's your name?" Traci asks sweetly.

"Hannah, I can't find my mom." Hannah says.

"Well, Hannah, I'll help you find here. How about I take you somewhere safe away from that monster. How does that sound?" Traci says.

"Good, but I'm scared, what of the monster attacks us." Hannah says.

"It won't, honey, the power rangers will make sure that it stays away from us. How about I give you a piggy back ride to safety?" Traci says.

Hannah nods quickly with a big smile on her face. Traci turns around, and Hannah climbs onto her back. Traci gets to her feet and tells Hannah to hold on tight. She starts running at a safe speed to get Hannah out of the danger zone. When she gets Hannah to safety, the silver ranger hears someone calling the little girl's name.

"Mom," Hannah says.

Hannah's mom stops in front of them.

"Thank you so much for finding my daughter," Hannah's mom says.

"You're welcome Ma'am," Traci says.

"Mommy, she is brave there was a big monster attacking, but she still ran over to help me." Hannah says.

"I would say that I'm brave. My mom taught me that I should help out whenever the need arises." Traci says.

"That is an excellent lesson to learn. We should get home," Hannah's mom says.

Traci turns around to let her take Hannah off of her back. She waits until Hannah's mom turns around the corner before she heads back to the team. She arrives to see the Rangers defeat the Nighlok with the Quintuple Slash. Traci goes over to them.

"How is the little girl," Mia asks.

"She's safe and back with her mom," Traci says.

"Good job," Jayden says.

The Nighlok grows to the size of a skyscraper. The Rangers summon their zords and form the Samurai Megazord. A few seconds later, giant Moogers join the fight and surround the Megazord. Traci decides to help. She morphs and goes into Mgeamode. The Rangers hear Traci's leopard zord roar. A tornado of snow surrounds the megazord protecting it from any attack the moogers might try.

"Alright, let's see how you handle the claws," Traci says.

Traci activates her megablade. She slashes the air in front of her. The leopard leaps into the air, several copies itself appear, and slash all the moogers. They fall over and explode.

"I think you can handle it from here," Traci says.

"Thanks, Traci," Mia says.

The Rangers defeat the Nighlok with the Samurai Megazord's finishing attack. Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers celebrate their victory. Jayden looks over at Traci.

"Traci, what's wrong?" Jayden asks.

"I blew it out there," Traci says.

"Traci, you didn't blow it. You just made a mistake." Mia says.

"Yeah, Mia is right. You were amazing" Jayden says.

"Yeah, the way you took down those moogers was awesome," Mike says.

"Thanks for the compliment Mike," Traci says.

Traci heads to her room while Mike shows off his new symbol power: fun. Traci takes out her morpher and dials her mom's number.

"Hi," Traci says.

"Hi, sweetie, how is everything going?" Rosylin says.

"Terrible, mom, I don't fit in here. I feel like an outsider. Everyone is such a better fighter than me. I'm never going to be as good as them." Traci says.

"Honey, you are a great fighter just like me, this isn't a contest. It's about saving the world. You'll make friends with the other Rangers in time. They just need to get to know you." Rosylin says.

"Do you think that the other Rangers want to be my friends?"Traci says.

"Yes, sweetie, I do. Listen, I have to go, but remember one thing a real samurai never gives up." Rosylin says.

Traci puts her samuraizer in her pocket. She leaves to rejoin the group. Jayden hears her sneakers squeak on the hardwood floor as she walks up. The group turns to their right to face her.

"Where did you go?" Kevin asks.

"I went to my room. I know my mom was worried about me flying across the country alone. I called her to tell her my flight made it in okay." Traci lies.

"I'm starving, so what's for dinner?" Mike asks.

"Mike, you have a one track mind don't you?" Traci asks.

"No, I just need to refuel." Mike says.

"Sure, whatever you say," Traci says.


	3. Training Alone

Chapter 3: Training alone

Normal POV

The next morning at 8:10, Mentor Ji, Jayden and Traci watch the Rangers train. Kevin accidently hits Mike. Jayden educates Mike to always keep his guard up. Mike fails to evade Jayden's attack. Jayden and Kevin demonstrate how to avoid the attack. After a flip, Kevin's pants fall.

"Nice boxers, Kevin," Traci says.

"Traci, why don't you show us some of your moves," Kevin says.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Traci says.

"Why?" Kevin asks.

"Because they aren't as good as yours," Traci says.

Traci starts to walk down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asks.

"Somewhere I can practice by myself," Traci says.

"Why," Mia asks.

"From what I saw yesterday, and just now, you guys can handle a sword much better than I can. I won't feel worthy enough to practice alongside you until I'm as good as the rest of you." Traci says.

She runs past the Rangers so they can't ask her any more questions.

"Shouldn't someone go after her?" Mike says.

"I will," Jayden says.

Jayden leaves the group. He walks down the trail leading to the secret training spot behind the house. He stands behind a tree next to the end of the path and watches Traci train. Traci spins the leopard disk and uses her special attack – frostbite. She slashes her sword across her body. It flies through the air and freezes the rock a few feet in front of her. The kick from the attack sends her flying back. She groans loudly when her back hits the rock, and she slides down onto the ground. She gets up and shakes her head.

"Man, that's the third time. I'm never going to be as strong as my mom. I can't even handle the frostbite attack. I hope that I'm strong enough to handle my symbol power. I knew it was beginners luck yesterday when I was able to control the zord the way I did." Traci says

She takes out her samuraizer, draws the hail storm symbol, and activates it. Jayden watches Traci slash the hail stones and try to dodge the ones that are too big to cut. A two medium and a one big one fall towards Traci. She slashes the first stone in half. The second stone comes so fast that she didn't have any time block it with her sword, and it hits her right shoulder. She drops to the ground in pain. She looks up to see the massive stone about to hit her. She closes her eyes after she puts her sword up to shield herself. Jayden takes out his samuraizer and draws a symbol. He activates it, and it floats over to Traci.

The symbol melts the hailstone, and the water falls onto her. Traci opens her eyes, gets to her feet and wrings out all the water out from her hair and clothes that she could. She sees Jayden running over to her.

"Hi, Jayden, what are you doing here?" Traci asks.

"I was looking for you," Jayden asks.

"Thanks for your help and the concern. The truth is I haven't been training as long as the rest of you. I've only been training for a year. " Traci says.

"That's why you want to train alone. You're afraid of what the others will say," Jayden says.

"Yeah," Traci says.

"Are you okay, you hit the rock pretty hard?" Jayden says.

"Yeah, I'm good," Traci says.

Traci picks up her sword, so they walk back to the house. Jayden and Traci walk into the living room. Traci sits down on one of the chairs. Jayden stands behind her. A few seconds later, Ji walks in, and his eyes widen in shock seeing Traci soaking wet.

"Traci, what happened," Ji asks.

"I was practicing one of my symbols - hail. I made a huge stone, and it was falling towards me." Traci says.

"I was watching from a safe distance away. I used my one of my symbols to melt it before it hit her." Jayden adds.

"Traci, you should change before you catch a cold," Ji says.

"Yes, Sir," Traci says.

Traci gets up and goes to her room. She takes out a pair of berry stain high waist, skinny jeans and black Three-Quarter-Sleeve Graphic Tee that says surround yourself with positive people out of her dresser and is about to change when the gap sensor goes off - again. She tosses her dry clothes on the bed and heads back to the living room. The others run in and gather around the table.

"Traci, I told you to change out of those wet clothes." Ji scolds.

"I will after the fight, I promise, so where is the nighlok this time," Traci asks.

Ji shakes his head before he taps the table and the map appears. A big red dot flashes over the arcade. The Rangers run out of the room to fight the nighlok. They arrive to see Rofer causing havoc by punching holes in the walls closest to him. The team morphs. The Rangers face off against the Nighlok and the group of Moogers. One by one, the Rangers summon the powers of their Spin Swords to take out the Moogers.

"Here goes nothing, spin sword – Frostbite," Traci says.

Traci swings her sword across her body. She waits for the kick back after it hits the moogers. Her attack hits then, and she is sent flying backward again. She bites her to stop herself from scream out in pain when her right shoulder hits the wall. Her sword clatters when it hits the ground after it falls out of her hand.

The silver ranger looks up and sees the two huge fists coming towards her. She reaches over to pick up her sword to use it to block them from hitting her, but her shoulder argues any movement. She puts her arm back at her side and tries to get to her feet. She jumps to the left to dodge them. She didn't time her jump correctly and got hit. This time, she hits the wall so hard that she demorphs. She moans quietly as her body hit the ground.

Meanwhile, with the others, Rofer starts to dry out, so he goes back to the Sanzu River. The team demorphs and runs over to the Traci. Mia helps Traci to her feet.

"Traci, are you okay?" Mia asks.

"Yes, I'm sorry I let Y'all down again," Traci says.

Traci has that feeling that she was about to sneeze. She puts her right arm up so she could sneeze into her elbow. She winces in pain slightly when she lifts her arm and as she puts it back down.

"Let's go home," Jayden says.

"Home I never thought I would hear that word again." Traci mumbles.

They start their walk back to the house. They're a few blocks away when Traci feels everything begin to spin around her. She leans up against one of the nearby walls to wait for it would pass, but it continues till she faints. The team turns around when they hear a loud thump. Jayden and Mia run over to her. Mia turns her over onto her back. They see her shiver slightly as a bit more of the water from Traci's wet clothes evaporates. Jayden takes off her jacket and wraps it around her.

"Mia put her on my back, We need to get her home fast," Jayden says.

Mia nods and she carefully places her on the red ranger's back. They head back to the house as quickly as they can. At the Shiba House, Ji is sitting in the living room. He hears a loud thump when the front doors bang against the wall. The samurai mentor gets out of his chair and walks out into the hallway. He sees Jayden is carrying the unconscious Traci on his back.

"What happened," Ji asks.

They hear a low moan as Traci starts to wake up. Jayden looks down and see her slowly open. Now her throat is sore that she starts coughing. After the silver ranger stops, she lifts her head up enough so she could talk.

"I'm sorry that I failed all of you. The nighlok beat me to a pulp. I deserved it. Ji, I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you when you told me to change out of my clothes before I got sick. " Traci says.

"Traci, don't try to talk. Save your strength," Jayden says.

Ji steps closer and uses his right hand to brush her hair away from her eyes. She sees a look in his eyes that she had never seen before it told her that she didn't deserve her injuries and that he wasn't mad at her because she didn't listen to him. He was just upset and nothing more.

"Traci, that's not true, no matter how strong a fighter any of you are, you will get hurt in battle eventually," Ji says.

Traci tries to stay awake a little bit longer. Her body overpowered her will, and she drifts off to sleep.

"Jayden, take her to the recovery room," Ji says.

Jayden nods and walks toward the recovery room. Mia and JI follow close behind him. The boys walk into the room. The pink ranger takes Traci off of Jayden's back. She places her down on the bed. Ji comes in with the first aid kit. He sets it down on the end table and pulls the chair that was in front of the desk next to the bed.

"I wonder why she thought that she deserved what happened to her today," Jayden says.

"I'm not sure Jayden, but I can sense she has put up so many walls up around her that it's hard for her to let others into her life. I think you and the others may have to break them down and earn her trust before becoming her friend." Ji says.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Mia asks.

"I guess that we'll have to take it one step at a time," Jayden says.

Jayden and Mia leave the room to let Ji get to work patching Traci's injuries. They walk into the living room and sit down in the empty chairs.

"Is she going to be okay?" Emily asks.

"I think so," Jayden says.

"Why does she keep apologizing and putting herself down whenever she makes a mistake or gets hurt?" Mike asks.

"I'm not sure, but Ji said that he could sense that Traci has put up a bunch of walls around her," Jayden says.

"Why did she do that," Kevin asks.

"I think that something bad must have happened to her in the past," Jayden says.

"Like what, exactly," Mike says.

"I don't know," Jayden says.

Back in the recovery room, Ji tied the sling around Traci's neck. He lays her back down carefully, takes the Braun Forehead thermometer out of the kit, places it above her eyebrow, hit the button and swipe to the temple and back. When beeps he looks down at the screen, and it reads 101.2. He sets it down and looks over at her.

"It looks like she'll need to take it easy for a few days," Ji says.

He takes the rag out of the other bowl that was to the left of the kit. He wrings out the excess water before placing it on Traci's forehead. Then he gets up to go out the first aid kit away. He walks into the kitchen to see the team drinking some tea and try to come up with a strategy to beat Rofer when he returned. Emily sets her cup down in front of her and swallows what is in her mouth before saying anything.

"How is Traci doing, JI?" Emily says.

"Her shoulder is badly bruised, so she'll have to take it easy for a few days. She also has a fever of 101." Ji says.

An hour later the Gap Sensor goes off again. Ji presses the button on the wall to silence the buzzing sound of the alarm.

"Can you keep it like this forever?" Mike asks.

"No, Mike," Ji says.

The team goes to the living room to check the map. They see that Rofer is back at the arcade again. They leave the house quickly but quietly so that Traci could rest. They arrive morphed. Mike tells them that he wants to take him on alone.

"Mike, let us help, it's too dangerous." Kevin says.

As Rofer begins the attack, Mike starts running and evading the arms. He reaches a dead end, so Jayden leaps in front of him to block an arm. After Jayden pushes it back, Rofer tries to reel his arms back in. He notices that he is unable since they got tangled up around the support beam in the parking garage. Mike summons the Forest Vortex attack to defeat Rofer. The Rangers congratulate Mike for defeating the Nighlok. Rofer grows into his large form. He summons the Bear Zord and transforms into Mega Mode. The Rangers watch the short battle between the Bear Zord and Rofer. After Kevin whines that Mike shouldn't be doing this on his own, they summon their Folding Zords to join the fight. They form the Megazord. Rofer continues his ground fist attacks against the Megazord. At the right moment, the Samurai Megazord evades the attack and follows up with a slash. The Rangers draw the Mega Katanas and perform the Samurai Megazord's final attack. The Rangers enjoy their victory.

After they have dinner, the team heads to the recovery room to see how Traci is doing. They walk in to see that Traci is awake, sitting up in the bed. They go over to the bed and stand next to it except for Mike. He is standing at the end.

"Hey guys," Traci says.

"How are you feeling?" Mia asks.

"Like I've been hit by a truck that was hauling two huge crates full of bricks and my shoulder is throbbing like crazy." Traci says.

"Aww, poor baby," Mike says in a sarcastic tone.

Traci could hear the sarcasm in Mike's voice. She picks up the extra pillow Ji brought (to prop herself up more when she slept so her shoulder wouldn't bother her so much) with her good arm. She tosses it as hard as she can towards Mike. It hits him in the face before falling to the floor. Emily picks it up and puts it back where it belongs on the bed. Then she walks back over to the others.

"Wow, you throw like a girl," Mike says.

"That's because I am one, much to my dad's dismay. Mike, one more thing, you need to work on your bedside manners." Traci says.

"What do you mean by that?" Kevin asks.

"Like I said two days ago, my dad called me a disgrace. He had his heart set on having a son, and when I was born, I broke his heart. That's why he…" Traci says.

"He what, what did he do, it's not good to keep secrets from your teammates." Kevin yells.

Jayden sees tears start to build up in Traci's eyes. The rest of her body tense up as she backs up closer to the wall like she was trying to protect herself from what Kevin might do next. He put his hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Kevin, calm down, that's not helping," Jayden says.

"You're right Jayden. Traci, I'm sorry that I snapped at you," Kevin says.

"Apology accepted," Traci says.

Jayden watches Traci start to relax and fight to keep her eyes open. Then she takes a deep breath to stop herself from yawning.

"Come on guys, it's been a long day. I think we should leave to get some rest ourselves." Jayden says.


	4. Problems With The Word Friend

Chapter 4: Problem with the word friend

Normal POV

A week later, Mentor and Jayden watch the others train. A few seconds later Mentor hears 'Lesson Number One' coming from inside the house. He leaves to investigate. The Samurai Mentor walks inside and stops in front of the Dojo to see Traci in her training gear. She does a cartwheel over to the sword on the floor. She uses her right foot to toss it into the air. She catches it and slices it through the air at the exact moment when the lyrics say 'cut quick like my blade.' He watches her make a few more moves matched perfectly with the lyrics before he picks up the dock and press pause. Traci didn't hear the song playing. She turns around quickly to see Mentor standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Menor, was the music too loud?" Traci says.

"No, but why are you practicing by yourself?" Ji asks.

"I'm afraid that the others would laugh at me, " Traci says.

"They're your teammates and friends. They wouldn't do that," Ji says.

"That's what Victoria Hurst said right before she told the whole school about my learning disability. The next thing I knew she was laughing along with the rest of the class." Traci says.

"You have a learning disability," Ji says.

"Yes, I have dyslexia. Please don't say anything to the others. I'll tell them someday." Traci says.

"Okay," Ji says.

An hour later, at the park, Traci is sitting on one of the benches. She is playing her Vihuela again. She finishes playing Firework when she sees a five-year-old Hispanic girl runs up to her. Her mom, Maria, chases after her.

"Hi, my name is Aura. I like your Vihuela it is pretty. Do you know how to play De Colors?" Aura asks.

"Well. Aura, thank you for the compliment. I'm Traci. Yes, I do, that was the second song my Uncle Jorge taught me." Traci says.

Aura smiles and claps happily. Maria takes a few steps back to give them some breathing room. Traci starts to play. Aura starts to sing right after Traci plays the last few bars of the intro. Traci lets Aura sing the first verse. She sings with her on the second verse. She sings in a lower octave they she usually does, so she wouldn't out sing her new partner. A crowd starts to form as they reach the end of the song. Maria, is standing in the front row. Traci sees a huge smile on her face. Traci also sees a few people toss a couple coins into her Vihuela case. The crowd claps after Traci plays the last note. Traci puts the money into the piggy bank she attached to the lid of the case with a piece of Black Self Adhesive Velcro Hook and Loop Tape. Then she puts her instrument away. They walk up to her mom.

"Mom, did you see me?" Aura asks.

"Yes, I did sweetie, you were wonderful." Maria says.

Traci bends down so she and Aura could see eye to eye. Aura gives her a big hug. Traci was a little surprised by what is happening.

"What's this for?" Traci asks.

"Thank you for letting me sing with you. It was fun," Aura says.

"You're welcome," Traci says.

Aura lets Traci go. Traci stands up tall again.

"You have a beautiful voice," Maria says.

"Thank you, my mom told me the same thing." Traci says.

"Honey, we need to go, we still have to go to the store." Maria says.

"Aw man," Aura says.

Aura waves goodbye to Traci as they're walking away.

"Kids," Traci says.

On the other side of the park, Doubletone scares Ryan and offers him a deal. Traci arrives home to hear the Gap Sensor going off. She goes runs to her room to put her instrument away. The Rangers gather around the coffee table. Ji unrolls the map.

"The park, that's strange." Traci says.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asks.

"I was just there, and I didn't notice anything strange." Traci says.

"It must have been at a different spot the park from where you were." Jayden says.

"Makes sense," Traci says.

The Rangers enter the scene to protect Ryan. After a brief battle, Doubletone retreats. Mia and Kevin confront Ryan about the Nighlok. Ryan wants to be left alone and rides away on his bike. The two Rangers follow the boy to his house. Kevin notices the look that Ryan gives to his bat. He tells Mia that he was like that before each swim meet. Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers watch as Traci cooks a meal for Kevin.

"Did you guys know that she could cook?" Mike asks.

"I figure that she must know a few recipes. Come on Mike, most mothers teach their children how to cook. It's a good way for them to bond." Mia says.

"But, Jayden, I thought you said that Ji cooks the meals." Mike says.

"He does," Jayden says.

"I wonder what she is cooking." Mike says.

"It looks like Chicken Enchiladas," Mia says.

The Rangers get a whiff of the intoxicating aroma coming from the kitchen as Traci heats up the filling for the enchiladas. Mia looks over at Mike. She sees him starting to drool. A few seconds later, it drips down onto Jayden's shoulder. She winks at Jayden, and the red ranger elbows him in the stomach.

"Do what was that for?" Mike asks.

"To get you to stop drooling, your making a puddle on my shoulder." Jayden says.

"Sorry dude, you have to admit that smells fantastic." Mike says as he wipes the drool from the corner of his mouth.

Back inside the kitchen, the filling is ready, so Traci rolls an even amount of the mixture in the tortillas. She arranges them in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Then she covers them with taco sauce and 3/4 cup Cheddar cheese. Before putting them in the oven, Traci turns around to see her teammates standing in the doorway.

"Hey, guys," Traci says.

"When will they be ready?" Mike asks.

"In thirty minutes," Traci says.

Later that night at Ryan's place, Kevin continues his stakeout. Mia arrives with Kevin's dinner.

"You made me dinner?" Kevin asks.

"No, Traci did," Mia says.

Kevin opens the container. He sees two Chicken Enchiladas, with Spanish rice, along with some corn chips and two side cups one is filled with salsa and the other has Guacamole. Kevin hands Mia the extra fork and they eat dinner. Doubletone watches the scene from behind the fence. Back at the house, Traci takes the other 9x13 inch baking dish she prepared out of the oven. She sets it on the counter to cool. Then she leaves to go tell everyone that dinner will be ready soon. Ten minutes later everyone is sitting in the kitchen eating dinner.

"Traci, this is delicious." Emily says.

"Thanks for the compliment," Traci says.

"If you like, we could trade off making dinner for everyone." Ji says.

"Sounds good to me, what about you guys?" Traci says.

"If it means we can eat some more Mexican food, I'm in." Mike says.

"Me too," Emily says.

"What about you Jayden?" Traci asks.

"I love the idea," Jayden says.

"Great," Ji says.

In the morning, at Ryan's house, Kevin sees Ryan leaving his yard. He wakes Mia up and they begin to follow Ryan, they catch up with Ryan and question him about his game. Doubletone enters the scene to stop the noisy Ranger. Doubletone reveals his plan to make Ryan give up his dream of playing baseball, so he would bring his dad home from overseas.

"Where is my Dad, you promised." Ryan says.

"Relax kid, I'm working on it, and thanks for helping me raise the Sanzu River with your tears." Doubletone says.

"We're going to make you pay for what your actions nighlok." Kevin says.

Mia tells Ryan to leave. He nods and leaves the scene. Mia and Kevin morph into action. Doubletone blasts them into the woods. After a brief battle, their fellow Rangers join the fight. Doubletone summons a swarm of Moogers. The Rangers face off against Doubletone and the Moogers with their weapons. After Mia and Kevin use their weapon to defeat the Nighlok, Doubletone becomes a mega monster. They form the Samurai Megazord. Traci goes into megamode, and she races in towards Doubletone in her zord.

"Leave me alone kitty," Doubletone says, as he swipes the zord out of the air.

The others watch as the zord did a back flip. Then it lands on its feet.

"Nice move, Traci," Mike says.

"Thanks, Mike, okay nighlok let's see how you handle this." Traci says.

Traci uses the snow leopard's hail storm attack. The stones fly towards Doubletone. The nighlok tries to dodge them, but can't. After the hail stone stops flying Doubletone sees the Megazord's final attack coming towards it. The attack hits him, he falls over and explodes. An hour later, at the baseball field, Ryan walks onto the field to join the game. Jayden uses symbol power to allow Ryan to briefly see his father. The moment reminds Traci of the last time she sang in front of a crowd when her Aunt Adrienne tells her to break a leg. Traci reaches under the collar of her shirt. She holds the heart shaped charm of her locket in the plan of her hand. She opens it and looks at the picture from her fifteenth birthday of her and her Aunt Adrienne.

"I wish you were still here with me Aunt Adrienne, I miss you." Tracy whispers.

Traci closes her charm and puts it back under her collar. She sees Aura standing on the pitcher's mound. Everyone stands up and puts their hands on their hearts. Aura starts singing the National Anthem. The crowd claps after she walks back to her seat next to her mom. After the ump calls 'Play Ball' Ryan steps up to the plate, as the ball flies in Ryan swings his bat with everything he's got. When it connects the ball flies into deep center field and goes over the fence. The Rangers cheer loudly along with the crowd as Ryan runs around the bases.

After the game Jayden and the others watch the excited Aura sprint up to Traci, the silver ranger groans as Aura gives her a hug.

"Traci, who is this," Kevin asks.

"This is Aura, I met her while I was at the park earlier," Traci says.

Maria runs up and tells her daughter to let Traci go before she passes out. The five-year-old doesn't listen to her mom and hugs Traci tighter. Jayden and Maria watch Traci's face turn blue.

"Aura Isabella Ruiz, get over here right now." Maria says.

Aura quickly lets go of Traci. She walks over to her mom. After Traci can breathe again, she looks over at Maria.

"The full name card well played," Traci says.

"Thank you," Maria says.

"You're welcome," Traci says.

"Mom, can Traci walk home with us," Aura asks.

"It's okay with me, what about you Traci?" Maria asks.

"I love too. I was planning on taking a walk around the rest of the city after the game." Traci says.

Aura runs up to Traci again. She grabs her hand and drags her away from the group.

"I guess we're leaving now. I'll meet you back at the house." Traci says.

"Okay, we'll see you soon," Jayden says.


	5. Night at the Ruiz House

Ch 5: Night at the Ruiz's house

Normal POV

The group walks up to the Ruiz's resistance, it was a beautiful two story house with a cozy porch with lovely views of the mature trees and manicured yard. They walk up to the front porch, and Aura lets go of Traci's hand. A few seconds later they hear a car pull up. Aura turns to her left and sees her dad get out of the car.

"El papá es a casa," Aura cheers.

"Your husband speaks Spanish right," Traci asks.

"Yes, he does," Maria says.

She jumps down off the porch and runs over to her dad, Bruno. He has black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. Bruno set his briefcase down on the driveway to catch his daughter in his arms. A few seconds later he starts tickling her. Maria looks over at Traci to see her trying not to cry.

"Traci, are you okay?" Maria asks.

"Yes, I'm all right," Traci says.

Bruno stops tickling his daughter. He sets her down and picks up his briefcase. They walk up to the porch. Bruno usually speaks Spanish at home, but he didn't want to confuse his guest.

"Hello, I'm Bruno, and you are," Bruno says.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Traci. I should get going I don't want to intrude on your family time." Traci says.

"I'm afraid that you have to stay after all," Bruno says.

"How come, dad," Aura asks.

"Well, sweetie, I heard on the radio that a big storm headed our way. It's a very fast-moving storm too. It will be on top of us in five minutes." Bruno says.

Traci hears a loud rumble of thunder in the distance. The flag hanging from the far right post flaps back and forth quickly as the wind begins to pick up. Maria invites Traci inside after she opens the front door. Traci walks inside to see the living room with gleaming hardwood floors, and it also has a large picturesque window with views of the yard.

"You have such a beautiful home, Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz," Traci says.

"Thank you for the kind words," Maria says.

"You're welcome," Traci says.

"What's for dinner mom," Aura asks.

"Taco-Filled Peppers," Maria says.

"Yea, my favorite," Aura says.

"That sounds delicious," Traci says.

"Papá, puedes jugar conmigo, por favor," Aura says.

"Honey, remember the rule, please speak English when we have a guest," Bruno says.

"Está bien, señor Ruiz, sé cómo hablar en español, Mi tío Jorge vive en México," Traci says.

"Cuándo era la vez pasada que le visitó," Maria asks.

"Hace dos años," Traci says.

Bruno noticed that Traci's accent was off. He concluded that she only spoke Spanish while she was visiting her uncle. He places his hand on her shoulder. Traci stiffened up and closes her eyes.

"Aura, how about you help mom make dinner tonight," Bruno says.

"Why," Aura asks.

Maria takes a hold of her daughter's hand, and they walk to the kitchen. Traci slowly opens her eyes when she hears them walking away. Bruno removes his hand. He looks into Traci's eyes and sees the look of pure fear in them.

"Traci, I'm a Therapist, I work with victims of child abuse," Bruno says.

"I guess that I show all the signs of being a victim of child abuse," Traci says.

"Yes," Bruno says.

"I don't understand how talking about my feelings is going to make me feel better," Traci says.

"Have you ever seen a therapist before," Bruno asks.

"I don't think so," Traci says.

"How about we go to my office, so we can talk more," Bruno says.

Bruno shows her to his home office. He opens the door. Traci walks inside and sees that his work area was in the back of the room and the sitting area was in the front. There is a brown loveseat, and end table at the right end of it, then two faux black leather chairs are next to the end table side by side a few inches away from the wall, and a small coffee table is about six inches in front of the chair closest to the end table. There are a notebook and a bowl of fruit on it.

"Have a seat on the couch. I need to get a few more things before we can start." Bruno says.

"I thought you just wanted to talk; it sounds like you're turning me into one of your patients," Traci says.

"Sorry, sweetie, it takes me a little while to turn my brain off from work mode when I get home," Bruno says.

"Sweetie, I'm 17, well, almost eighteen, my birthday is next month. Could you call me something else, please," Traci says.

"Sure, what do you prefer," Bruno asks.

"I'll let you know when I think of one," Traci says.

Traci sits down on the couch. She thought it was softer than the one she's been sleeping on in the room at the halfway house. Bruno sets a Scrabble Game on the table along with a sketch pad and some markers.

"Are we going to play scrabble?" Traci asks.

"In a bit, I have a hunch that you don't like talking about what happened to you. Could you draw me a picture, please?" Bruno says.

"What do you want me to draw?" Traci asks.

"Whatever you like," Bruno says.

Traci picks up the sketch pad and the markers. She likes starting off her drawing in pencil so she can erase her mistakes and also figures that Bruno didn't mind if she made a mistake. She takes the black marker out of the box, sets it back on the table and starts drawing. Ten minutes later she puts the pen down and hands it to Bruno. He looks at the drawing. He sees a high school hallway filled with students; Traci is walking down, and some of the students were throwing things at her while others have speech bubbles near them. He sees words like ugly, stupid, dork, you don't belong here, you're nothing and others words that no teenage girl should hear- ever.

He noticed that she mixed up her lower case letter B, and D. Bruno puts it down on the table and sees tears streaming down Traci's cheeks. He hands her the box of tissues that is on the end table.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ruiz, why would they say such mean things me?" Traci says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Back at the Shiba house, the Rangers were getting worried about Traci. They are sitting in the living room. They hear a crackling sound as two lightning bolts collide outside.

"I hope Traci is okay," Emily says.

"Relax, Em, I'm sure that Traci is fine." Mike says.

"Yeah, she's probably had to stay at Aura's House because of the storm." Mia says.

Back at the Ruiz's house, Bruno decided to play a game of Scrabble. He lets Traci go first. She spells the word disgrace with her title. He builds smile off of the s in disgrace. The next word Traci spells is stupid. Bruno's next word is friends. Traci builds trust off of the r in friends. Bruno noticed that most of the words Traci built were negative. He picks up the notebook and takes a pen out of his jacket pocket. He writes down his observations.

"Okay, we're running low on tiles, let's end the game." Bruno says.

"Okay," Traci says.

"Why did you spell out those particular words?" Bruno asks.

"I guess my dad and the bullies drilled them into me." Traci says.

They talk for ten more minutes till Bruno decides to put everything away. Traci gets up from the couch, walks over to the window and watches the rain falling outside. She sees her reflection when a bolt of lightning lights up the sky. She sees her eyes are red and puffy from crying. Maria walks into her husband's office. When she gets there, she stands in the doorway. Bruno walks over to her.

"Dinner is ready, honey." Maria says.

"Thank you, sweetie, we'll be there in a minute. Traci, did you hear that?" Bruno says.

"Yes, I'm coming," Traci answers politely.

She turns around, and slowly walks over to Bruno. Maria looks over at her to see that the area around her eyes is red and puffy, and her eyes have a glassy appearance. She concluded that Traci had been crying. She wanted to ask her why, but didn't after thinking about for a few seconds.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Instead, they head to the kitchen, as they enter the room Aura walk up to them.

"Traci, will you sit next to me, please?" Aura asks as she bats her eyelashes.

"Sure, sweetie, and you didn't have to bat your eyelashes. I would have said yes because you asked politely." Traci says.

Aura nods. She turns around and skips over to the table. She pulls Traci's chair out from the table. Then she skips back over to Traci and takes a hold of her wrist. She gently pulls her over to the table. Maria and Bruno chuckle watching their daughter drag Traci across the floor towards the table. When they get to the chair Aura lets go of Traci's wrist. Traci sits down, pushes her chair in towards the table and Aura sits down in her chair as well.

Traci unfolds her napkin and puts it on her lap. Aura does the same this makes her parents smile as she continues to copy Traci's good table manners while they eat. After they finish eating, Traci gets up and clears her dishes. Then she walks over to the sink and places them in it. She turns around to see Aura standing behind her. The five-year-old is holding her plates in her hands.

"Me too," Aura says.

Traci smiles and steps to her left to let Aura get to the sink and watch her get on her tip toes. She sets the plates down and slowly lowers herself down to stand flat footed again. She turns around and sees a big smile on her mom's face.

"Good job, sweetie, I'm so proud of you." Maria says.

"Thank you, mom, can I play now?" Aura asks.

"Of course, you can sweetie, why don't you show Traci where the play room is." Maria says.

Aura nods happily and grabs Traci's wrist again. The five-year-old drags Traci out of the room before she had a chance to offer to help with the dishes. Aura lets go of her wrist for the second time. Traci sees a huge chalkboard in the middle of the room. She figured that everything else in the room must be hidden safely behind the large doors covering everything from ceiling to floor. Aura slides one of the doors open and takes out two hula hoops. She walks over to Traci and hands her the hoop with a snowflake pattern. They walk to the middle of the room.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

They hula hoop for twenty minutes till Aura gets tired. Traci puts the hoops away. Aura takes out a box of crayons with 120 crayons in it and a stack of paper. They go over to the table and sit down. Traci sets a piece of paper in front of her and starts to draw. Five minutes later Maria and Bruno come in to check on their daughter. Aura looks up to see her parents walking in.

"Hi, sweetie, what did you draw?" Maria says.

"A princess," Aura says with a smile.

Traci puts Turquoise crayon back in the box. She takes out the black crayon to put her initials on the bottom right-hand corner of her picture. After she writes them as neatly as she can with a crayon, she puts it away.

"What did you, Traci?" Maria asks curiously.

Traci didn't say a word she hands her drawing of the beach to Maria. Bruno walks over to her. They are amazed at how accurate she was able to draw with just a crayon. They thought they were teleported to the beach and could even hear the seagulls calling as they are flying around looking for some food.

"Traci, you're such an amazing artist." Maria compliments.

"Yes, my wife is right. This is incredible." Bruno adds.

"Thank you, art was my favorite subject in school. You can keep it. I don't have a spot in my bedroom to hang it up." Traci says.

"Okay, I'll take it work to laminate it. Then I'll find a nice frame for it." Bruno says.

"You don't have to do all that." Traci says.

"I want to do it. I believe that others deserve to see this too." Bruno says.

Traci smiles and picks everything up to put it away. She looks over at the clock on the wall. It says seven so she knew that Aura would be getting ready for bed since she had school tomorrow.

"Okay, Aura is time to get ready for bed." Maria says.

"I'm not tired," Aura says.

"Let's go, sweetie. It's time for your bath." Maria says.

Aura walks over to her mom. They walk out of the room. Bruno tells her about the other bathroom upstairs. Traci thought that a nice warm shower did sound nice.

"I would love to freshen up, but I don't have a change anything else to wear." Traci says.

"I'm sure that my wife has a pair of pajamas that fit you from before Aura arrived." Bruno says.

"Okay, thank you again for helping me out." Traci says gratefully.

"You're very welcome," Bruno says.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

They walk towards the master bedroom. He walks over to the closet. He picks up the box labeled pre-pregnancy clothes. He carries it over to the bed and opens it.

"I'll let you go through it that way you can find something that's close to your style," Bruno says.

Traci nods and Bruno leaves the room to help his wife with Aura's bath. Traci walks over to the bed. She takes everything out to find the pajamas. The first pair has a leopard spot pattern on them. The second pair the top has a baby penguin on it and the bottoms were cameo pink and have draw strings. The third pair the top is pink and the bottoms have flowers on them that are the same shade of pink as the top the background is white. Traci picks the second pair and repacks the box neatly. She closes the box and heads to the bathroom.

Traci walks in the bathroom closed the door behind her. She sets the pajamas on the back of the toilet on the lid of the tank. She takes the towels off the curtain rod. She sets one on the floor in front of the sink. She sets the other one on the floor on the side of the toilet facing the door. She turns on the water and places her hand under it so that the water hits her wrist to feel the temperature of the water. Once the water is the right temperature she turns the shower on. She undresses and get inside. Her tired muscles slowly start to relax as the water touches her skin.

Ten minutes later she gets out, dries off and gets dressed. Then she hands the towels back up on the curtain rod. She turns to her left and wipes the condensation off the mirror. Then she takes the towel off her head, hangs it up next to the other one on the curtain rod, turns back towards to the mirror, and starts to brush her hair. Three minutes later she finished and puts the brush back where she found it. She takes out her morpher and draws a symbol. Her toothbrush appears in front of her. She brushes her teeth and draws it again to make it disappear. She leaves the room. She walks down, the stairs and Maria greets her. She is holding a small clothes basket in her hands.

"I was just about to do a load of laundry. You can add your clothes as well." Maria says.

"Okay, thank you." Traci says.

Maria smiles and heads to the laundry room. Traci goes to the living room and looks over at the clock. It was only 8:10 but she was exhausted. She sets her morpher down on the coffee table before she lies down on the couch. As soon as her head hits the pillow, her eyes close instantly. A few minutes later Maria and Bruno walk in and see Traci fast asleep on the couch.

"Do you think we should move her to the guest room?" Bruno whispers.

"Yes, but try not to wake her up," Maria says.

"I'll try my best," Bruno says.

They watch Traci roll over onto her back. Bruno walks over to her, picks up her morpher and put in his pocket. Then he turns to his left and picks her up. They head to the guest room. Maria opens the door and heads to the master bedroom after turning on the light. Bruno walks in the room. He goes over to the bed and places Traci down gently. Then he puts her morpher down on the end table. He turns to face the bed. He reaches down and fixes her hair. Then he kisses her on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams Traci, sleep well," Bruno says.

He turns around and leaves the room. He catches of glimpse of a small smile come to Traci's face as he turns off the light. He heads to the master bedroom. Maria walks over to him.

"Traci is such a nice young lady, isn't she?" Maria says.

"Yes, she is. It's hard to believe that she been abused as a child." Bruno says.

"Oh my goodness, that's terrible, that's why you wanted to take to her alone wasn't it?" Maria asks

"Yes," Bruno says.

"I knew something was wrong when she started to get sad when she saw how happy you and Aura earlier when you got home from work." Maria says.

"She doesn't like talking about her father much. You can't blame her though since all her father taught her was words like disgrace and worthless. She also told me that he would promise her something than go back on his word." Bruno says.

"I can't believe that they're fathers out there that would say those kinds of words to their child and be so dishonest to them too," Maria says, shaking her head.

"I know," Bruno says.

"I guess that school was tough for her as well." Maria says.

Bruno nods. He reaches into his jacket pocket and unfolds the piece of paper. He hands it to her it's the other drawing that Traci made. Maria eyes widen in shock and disbelieve seeing what was on the page.

"Wow," Maria gasps.

"That was the first word that popped in my head when I saw it too, dear," Bruno says.

An hour later Maria leaves to head back to the laundry room to empty the dryer. She folds everything up and neatly stacks it in the basket. Traci's clothes are on the top of the stack. She heads to the guest room. She opens the door quietly and puts her clothes down on the desk. She tip toes towards the door, and closes it behind her the same way she opened it. She enters the master bedroom, and puts the clothes away. Then she changes into her night gown. Mrs. Ruiz kneels down at the foot of the bed to do her nightly prayers.

"Dear Lord, I always pray for you to keep my family safe and healthy. Tonight I would like to add Traci to my list. Please take her by the hand and remind her that you'll always be there for her. Assure her that one day she'll find a young man that will treat her with respect. Amen," Maria says.

She climbs into bed. A few minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz fall asleep feeling blessed that they meet Traci today.

* * *

Translations

¿Papá, puedes jugar conmigo, por favor, - Dad, can you play with me, please?

El papá es a casa – Dad is home

Está bien, señor Ruiz, sé cómo hablar en español, Mi tío Jorge vive en México -it's okay, Mr. Ruiz, I do know how to speak Spanish. My Uncle Jorge lives in Mexico,

Cuándo era la vez pasada que le visitó, - When was the last time you visited him?

Hace dos años - two years ago


	6. Not a Fan of Amusement Parks

Ch 6: Not a fan of amusement parks

Normal POV

Traci left the Ruiz house around quarter to seven. She felt a little better after talking with Mr. Ruiz yesterday. She arrives home the next morning around 8:15, after grabbing some breakfast, and bumps into the others leaving.

"Where are you guys headed Aren't we supposed to be training?" Traci asks confused.

"Not today, Ji gave us the day off," Mia says

"Yeah, we're going to Rainbow's End, you want to join us," Mike adds.

"No thanks," Traci says politely.

"Okay," Mike says.

Traci lets them go by as she continues to the front door. She walks inside and goes to her room. Jayden is in the Dojo sitting on the floor. He opens a box and reveals a Beetle Disc. A few minutes later, his meditation is interrupted by the sound of Traci's beautiful Vihuela music. He gets up and follows the sound to the front yard. Traci hears the front doors opening. She stops playing and gets up from the bench. She sees Jayden standing on the porch.

"Sorry, was I playing too loud," Traci says.

"No, you weren't. I was planning to come outside in a few minutes. I have one more question, why didn't you go with the others to the amusement park?" Jayden asks.

"I had a bad experience the last time I visited one; the coaster stopped at the top of a hill and was stuck like that for five hours," Traci says.

"Wow, that's an excellent answer," Jayden says.

"I know," Traci says.

At Rainbow's End, the Rangers begin their day of fun. Kevin feels guilty about missing his training. At the Shiba House, Ji is picking some vegetables from his garden. He puts a few tomatoes in the basket on the ground in front of him. He hears Jayden walks up and gets to his feet.

"Hey, have you seen Traci?" JI asks.

"She was playing her Vheula earlier in the kitchen," Jayden says.

"How long ago was that?" Ji asks.

"I would say about twenty minutes," Jayden answers.

"I thought that she would've gone to the amusement park with the others," Ji says.

"She is into amusement parks," Jayden says.

They look to the east and see hailstones and snow falling from the sky. Ji sets the basket back down on the bench near the front door. They run down the path and arrive to see Traci trying to dodge the hailstones. She moves to her left and right quickly. A few stones hit her on the arm, and the jagged edge cut her. Traci ignores the pain and dodges the last few stones. They run over to her.

"Hey, what's up?" Traci asks.

"I was thinking about practice with the beetle disk," Jayden says.

"Jayden, you're not ready to use that disk yet," Ji says.

"That may be true, mentor, but if these nighlok get any stronger than they already are. I need to be even stronger." Jayden says.

"We'll talk later Jayden. Traci, why are you training by yourself?" Ji asks.

"I just wanted to get stronger, because I don't feel like I belong here," Traci says.

"Traci, you do belong here, you're a real samurai like the rest of us," Jayden says.

"No, I'm not," Traci says.

"What do you mean?" Jayden asks.

"Traci, you can explain it to us after I clean that cut on your arm," Ji says.

Traci nods and they head inside. Traci sits down in the living room while Ji goes to get the first aid kit. He comes back in the room and sets it down on the table. He looks over at Traci and sees the fear in her eyes.

"Ji, you aren't going to yell at me or tell me that I deserved to get hurt, are you?" Traci asks.

"Of course not, why do you ask?" Ji says.

"Just curious," Traci says.

Ji pours some hydrogen peroxide onto a jumbo sized cotton ball. He is about to put it on the cut. Traci backs quickly.

"Did you have to use a giant cotton ball?" Traci asks.

"Sorry, it's the only ones that I have left. I've been meaning to buy more." Ji answers.

JI uses his other hand to gently pull Traci arm back towards him. He dabs the damp cotton ball onto the cut. Traci winces slightly and tries her best not to squirm. Then he puts a bandage on it.

"Thanks, Ji," Traci says.

"You're welcome," Ji says with a small smile on his face.

"Traci, why don't you consider yourself to be a true samurai, you were born into it like the rest of us," Jayden says.

"I know that, but unlike the rest of you, your families had a mom and a dad that loved you. My father never loved me. My parents are divorced." Traci says.

"Your family might be different from the others, but like I said the day you arrived no matter where you came from or what kind of household you grew up in that doesn't change the fact that you're a samurai. The six of you are a team." Ji says.

Meanwhile, at Rainbow's End, Dreadhead, enters the scene. The Rangers leave the park and enter the battlefield. They are unable to attack the Nighlok with their Spin Swords. Dreadhead defeats the Rangers. The Silver and Red Rangers join the fight but fail to attack Dreadhead. The Rangers combine their attacks with the Spin Swords Quintuple Slash along with Traci's ice symbol strike. The attack injures the Nighlok. Jayden takes out the Beetle Disc but decides not to use it. Dreadhead takes the opportunity to retreat.

Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers regroup and discuss the recent battle. Jayden reveals the Beetle Disc to his friends.

"Where did you get that disk," Traci asks.

"This belonged to my dad," Jayden answers.

"Why didn't you use earlier" Mike asks.

"I haven't mastered it yet," Jayden says.

"It may take him a while to master it since it requires double the power he already has," Ji explains.

The group watches Traci's zord walk in the room with a disk in its mouth. It tosses it to towards Traci and lands gently in her lap.

"Traci, I didn't know you had a secret disk too." Jayden says.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I don't even know how it got here."Traci says.

The snow leopard jumps onto Traci's lap and flips the disk over. Traci looks down and sees a sticky note attached it. She takes it off and hands it to Jayden.

"What does it say?" Emily asks.

Jayden clears his throat and starts to read the note.

Traci,

This disk had belonged to your grandma before she passed it on to me. She wasn't able to master it. When I was a ranger, I tried to use it, but I couldn't handle its power either. I decided to pass it on to you because I know you'll be able to do what your grandma and I couldn't unlock the power sealed inside the disk. We know you can do.

"What you think is inside the disk?" Mike asks.

"Probably a new zord," Traci says.

"Yeah, but don't you think that your mom is putting a lot of pressure on you?" Emily asks.

"Maybe, a bit, but if she believes in me, I have to work as hard as I can to master the disk." Traci says.

Late night at the Shiba House, Mentor Ji watches Jayden train hard with the Beetle Disc on his Fire Smasher. Traci is training with her new disk on her spin sword. Jayden appears to be making progress, but hurting himself at the same time. Traci is doing the same. Ji continues to watch them train.

Dreadhead returns to the city for more trouble. The Rangers enter the scene and morph. At the Shiba House, Mentor Ji wakes Jayden and Traci to join the others. Back in the city, the Rangers are having a hard time against Dreadhead. As Dreadhead is about to blast Blue Ranger, Traci and Jayden enter the scene with the Fire Smasher and Traci's with her new frostbite staff.

"Take this Dreadhead, frostbite staff. Ice storm," Traci shouts.

The Rangers watch as a wave of icicles swirl around Traci. Then she directs the icicles towards Dreadhead. The attack flies towards him and freezes him. Jayden takes out the Beetle Disc. He inserts the Beetle Disc into the Fire Smasher and transforms the weapon into the Beetle Cannon. He succeeded in harnessing the Beetle Disc. The Rangers insert their Discs into the 5 Disc Beetle Cannon. Dreadhead breaks free from Traci's ice prison. Jayden fires the weapon and destroys Dreadhead, who grows into his large form. The Rangers summon their zords and form the Samurai Megazord. The Megazord fails to land a single attack on the Nighlok's body. Mega Red Ranger has an idea to use the Beetle Disc. He jumps outside of the Megazord's cockpit and summons the Beetle Zord. Mega Red Ranger pilots the new zord towards Dreadhead. The Beetle Zord's spin move knocks the Nighlok to the ground. Giant Moogers joins the fight with their bow and arrow attacks. Samurai Megazord combines with the Beetle Zord to form the Beetle Blaster Megazord. Giant Moogers fire the arrows at the new formation. The Megazord fires the Beetle Cannon to defeat the Moogers. The Rangers turn their attention to the useless Nighlok. Beetle Blaster Megazord defeats the Nighlok with the Rotating Beetle Blaster finishing attack.

Back at Rainbow's Park, the Rangers make their second attempt on their day off. Jayden and Traci joined the others and told them that balance in life is important. Traci holds onto everyone's things while they rode the coaster. The group goes on a few more rides before heading back home. They stopped for ice cream on the way. They head back through the park. They sit on a few of the benches.

"Traci, I can't believe how fast you master that disk." Kevin says.

"Yeah, that was pretty amazing," Jayden says.

"Thanks, but I've only mastered the weapon. I still need to unlock the zord that may take some more training." Traci says.

"I can't wait to see the zord that comes out of that disk." Emily says.

"Me too," Traci says.

Mike hangs his arm over the arm of the bench. His double scoop cherry cone hovers a few feet off the ground. Traci catches a glimpse of a ground squirrel come out from behind a tree. It creeps closer and closer to Mike's ice cream.

"Mike, you might want to move your hand." Traci warns.

"Why," Mike asks.

A few seconds later the squirrel snatches the cone out of his hand. It runs away as fast as it can. Traci tries her best not to start laughing.

"Hey, come back," Mike shouts.

"Sorry, Mike, I told that you need to move your hand." Traci says.

"It's okay. I didn't know that squirrels even liked cherry ice cream." Mike says.

"Well, they do." Traci says.

After everyone else finished eating, they continue home. Ten minutes later they arrive and head to their rooms. Traci walks into her room and closes the door behind her. She walks over to her desk, takes off her locket, sets it down and looks over at the calendar on the wall. She crosses off today's with a big x.

"Another day over and tomorrow will be another day in my adventure as a ranger. I can't wait for what happens next," Traci says smiling.


	7. Story about a Bully

Ch 7: Story about a bully

Normal POV

Traci wakes up the next morning, changes into her training gear, walks over to the desk, picks up her brush to fix her hair, pulls her hair up into a tight bun and puts the brush down. She looks in the mirror. She smiles at her reflection.

"Okay, Traci, today you're going to train with the team. Just relax and you'll be fine." Traci says.

Traci opens the box with her locket inside. She takes it out and runs her fingers over the charm a few times before putting it back inside, leaves her room and goes to the kitchen. She eats some breakfast and heads outside to train after getting her iPod and the speaker dock. Outside, the others are standing on the porch waiting for her. They hear the front door open. Jayden walks over to her.

"Hey, Traci, are you joining us this morning?" Jayden asks.

"Yes," Traci says.

"What's with the speakers and your iPod?" Mike asks.

"Music helps me focus, and it will make our training a bit more fun," Traci says.

"I doubt that you'll be able to spar with anyone if the music is playing," Mike says.

"How about you spar with her Mike so that we can test your theory?" Jayden asks.

Mike nods and picks up his sword. He walks over to the sparring area and has a confident look on his face. Traci sets up her speakers and chooses the song. Jayden hands her the sword in his hand. She walks over to Mike.

"You can press play," Traci says.

Jayden pressed play, and everyone hears 'Lesson Number One' start to play. When the lyrics say 'Earth' Traci leaps over Mike sword when he sweeps it at her feet, 'Sky' Traci quickly slashes her sword down towards him as she comes back down the ground. 'Day' she moved three steps to the east, 'Night' she moved towards the west. 'Dark' Traci takes two steps back. 'Light' she moves back to her original spot.

'One alone is not enough; you need both together'. She repeats all the moves she did a few seconds ago. 'Winter' Traci steps to the right and attacks. 'Summer' Mike dodges her attack by doing a back flip, 'Moon' Traci waits until his feet are a few inches above the ground . 'Sun' she swipes her sword at his ankles. 'Lesson Number one!' Mike lands on his back a few seconds later. Ji stops the song. Mike gets up and looks over at Traci.

"What's wrong Mike?" Traci asks.

"Nothing that was incredible," Mike says.

"Thanks," Traci says.

Traci walks back over to the others. She hands Jayden her sword. Then she watches the others spar. Twenty minutes later everyone goes inside to cool down. In the city, Negatron begins his attack on the city by insulting the citizens. The Rangers finally make it to the scene. Negatron insults the Rangers one by one.

"Silver Ranger, you'll always be the weak link and the other rangers know it too," Negatron says.

Traci tries to ignore the nighlok's mean words. She couldn't and flies backward into the wall. She groans when she hits the ground. Negatron knows that Red Ranger has a secret. Traci decides to fight alone against Negatron to prove him wrong, who retreats after the brief battle. Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers discuss their recent failure against Negatron.

"Traci, what got into you out there?" Jayden asks.

"The nighlok said that was the weak link of the team," Traci says.

"That's not true," Jayden says.

"I know, and I want to tell it that it was wrong," Traci says.

"Why didn't you," Mia says.

"I've been good at standing up for myself. The funny thing is I had no problem standing up for other kids who were getting picked on I guess I am a coward after all." Traci says sadly.

"Traci, that's not true. Standing up for others and standing up for yourself requires a different kind of courage." Ji says.

"How exactly did you get the bully to leave you alone then?" Mike asks very curiously.

"I had to join his group," Traci says.

"You a bully, I don't believe it," Jayden says.

"I was just the lookout," Traci says.

"Didn't the bully ever have you beat someone up to stay in the group?" Mike asks.

"Yes, he did." Traci sighs. "One day, they had one of the other members doing my job. The leader, Jake, was holding the kid arms and another bully, Zack, was holding his feet so he couldn't fight back. I could tell by the look in the kid's eyes that he was utterly terrified. Then Jake told me to punch him."

"Did you hit the kid?" Ji asks.

"No, I tried to but I couldn't. I still haven't figured out why I couldn't do it." Traci says.

"You probably understood how that kid was feeling since you've been on the other side of that situation before joining the group." Ji says.

"Maybe," Traci says.

"You do have a good heart. I bet deep down inside you knew what you were about to do was wrong, so you choose not to go down that path." Ji says.

"I guess so, but joining the group was wrong too." Traci says.

"True, but you left the group after that day didn't you?" Ji asks.

"More like they kicked me out since I didn't beat that kid up." Traci says.

"Why didn't you tell your mom about this?" Mia asks.

"I wanted to handle it on my own. Trust me, if my mom got involved, she would have made things worse than they already were. Plus, my dad thought that I was a disappointment. I didn't want my mom to be ashamed of me too." Traci says.

"How can you call yourself a samurai, when you did something like that?" Kevin snaps.

"I'm not proud of the decision, but you don't have to be so mean to me for one mistake I made when I was thirteen. I thought teammates are supposed to support one another not tear them down." Traci says tearfully.

She gets up from her chair and runs out of the room. Jayden starts to stare Kevin down with a disappointing glance.

"Kevin that was a little harsh, she was thirteen then. When you're that age Kevin, you tend to do a few things you aren't proud of." Ji says.

"I know, but…" Kevin says

"No buts Kevin, you need to apologize." Jayden says.

Kevin nods. He gets up from his chair. He walks to Traci's room. He stands outside the door and is about to knock. He starts to feel terrible when he hears Traci crying on the other side.

"Traci, can I talk to you?" Kevin asks knocking on the door.

"Why," Traci lifts her heads off the pillow. "You thought of something else to say to make feel even worse?" She snaps through her tears.

"No, I wanted to apologize." Kevin says.

"I don't want to hear it." Traci snaps.

She puts her head down on her pillow and continues to cry into her pillow. A few seconds later the gap sensor goes off. She lifts her head up again. She takes a tissue out of the box on her nightstand. She wipes away her tears and throws it away after blowing her nose. She walks over to the door and opens it.

"You heard the gap sensor, didn't you?" Traci snaps

"Yes," Kevin says.

"Are you going to move then," Traci snaps.

Kevin moves to his left. Traci walks past him rolling her eyes. Kevin follows behind her. After Ji tells them where the nighlok attack was, they head out. Meanwhile, Negatron continues his attack on the city. The Rangers enter the scene and morph into action.

"Hey, nighlok, didn't your mom ever tell you if you can't say something nice then you shouldn't say anything at all."Traci says.

"No, moogers attack," Negatron says.

The Rangers use their weapons against the swarm of Moogers. Traci charges in towards the Nighlok, who struggles to insult her.

"Face it, Silver Ranger, you're never going to be as strong as your mom," Negatron says.

Traci slowly lowers her frostbite staff down to her side. Kevin runs up and fires his Hydro Bow at the nighlok.

"Traci, don't listen to him, you are as strong as your mom. You're even stronger you mastered the disk that even she couldn't." Kevin says.

"You're right, and thanks. I'm sorry about before," Traci says.

"It's okay. I was out of line. How about silencing this nighlok for good?" Kevin says.

"With pleasure," Traci says.

Traci takes out her samuraizer.

"Symbol power, hail," Traci says.

The hail stones fly through the air and land in the nighlok's mouth.

"Well, nighlok, I have a few things I want to say to you. They aren't very nice, so I won't say them. I will say this tough. Frostbite staff, Ice symbol strike." Traci says.

The team regroups in front of her, Jayden his holding his fire smasher in cannon blast mode.

"I think we should use your Leopard disk, this time." Jayden says.

'Okay," Traci says.

The Rangers defeat Negatron with the 5 Disc Leopard Cannon. Negatron grows into his large form. The Rangers summon their zords and form the Samurai Megazord. Negatron blasts the Megazord with his Eye attack. The Megazord responds with a Combo Attack.

"Traci, join us," Jayden says.

"You got it," Traci says.

Traci's leopard zord combined with the Samurai Megazord to create the ice storm megazord. The claws from her zord become spikes on the shield. The sword has a snowflake pattern on it, and the blade is the same color as Traci's zord. She moves her megablade upward in her panel. The spikes on the shield were sent flying towards the nighlok.

"Nice shot," Mike says.

"Thanks, so how about we finish the is battle up all ready." Traci says.

"Sounds good to me," Jayden says.

The team activates their Mega blade and slashes them through the air in front of them. The ice storm Megazord's final strike activates, and several huge hailstones appear along with a blizzard. The attack hits Negatron. He falls over and explodes.

"Samurai Rangers, Victory is ours." Jayden says.

"I did it, I…" Traci says.

The Rangers hear a thump as Traci's body hits the floor of the cockpit. The group turns to their left and see Traci. Kevin goes over to her and tries to wake her up.

"Traci, we won, wake up." Kevin says.

The group walks home through the park. Kevin is carrying Traci on his back.

"Traci was incredible today." Kevin says.

"Yes, her mom would be proud if she saw her in action," Mia says.

The group hears an ice cream truck driving up.

"The ice cream song sound so much better than the gap sensor." Mike says.

"Voy a tener dos cucharadas de chocolate con gotas, por favor," Traci says as her eyes shoot open.

"You know how to speak Spanish?" Kevin asks.

"Yes, and sorry I was dreaming that I was visiting my uncle Jorge, who lives in Spain." Traci says.

"What did you just say?" Kevin asks.

"I said I wanted two scoops of chocolate with sprinkles, please." Traci says.

"Got it," Kevin says.

"The truck is about to pass us," Mia says.

"Kevin, how about you put me down, so we can chase after it." Traci says.

Kevin smiles and bends down to let Traci hop off his back. Then they chase after the truck yelling at the driver telling him to stop. After it comes to a complete stop the group got their cones and paid for them; they walk over to a bench to enjoy them.

"Mike, you aren't going to share yours with Rocky again are you?" Traci jokes

"If Rocky is a squirrel. No, I'm not going to share my cone with him." Mike says.

"Okay, just checking," Traci says.

Traci starts to eat her cone. She is going so fast that she gets a brain freeze after her tenth lick, stops eating her cone, rolls her tongue into a ball, and then presses it to the roof of her mouth. A few seconds later her brain freeze is gone, so she continues to eat her cone slowly to prevent another one from happening.

_They are acting the way a real friend should, but I'm still not sure if I can trust them yet. How do I know they're not pretending to be my friends or just doing it because they have to since we are a team? _Traci thinks.

Mike looks over at Traci. He notices that she is deep in thought about something.

"Hey, Traci, what are you thinking about?" Mike asks.

"Just that we should get home soon so we won't miss dinner." Traci lies.

Jayden could tell by how quickly she came up with her response that she was lying about what was really on her mind. He decided that he would talk to her one-on-one when they got home. They get up off the bench and throw their napkins away. Then the team starts walking back to the house, and ten minutes later they arrive at the house.

"Guys, Traci and I will meet you inside. I want to talk to her alone." Jayden says in a serious tone.

The others nod and continue to walk in the house. Traci turns around to face Jayden.

"What's wrong?" Traci asks.

"What was on your mind earlier?" Jayden asks.

"Why do you want to know?" Traci asks in a defensive tone.

"Since I could tell that what you told Mike was a lie." Jayden answers.

"Fine, I'm not sure if I can trust Y'all yet." Traci says honestly.

"Why would you be having doubts about that we're a team." Jayden says.

"Like I told JI, in middle school, I met Victoria Hurst. I trusted her and told her things I never told anyone else. One day I found out she told Jake. He used those things to spread vicious rumors about me around the whole school. I don't want to go through that again." Traci says.

"Traci, I promise you that won't happen." Jayden says.

"How can you be so sure," Traci asks very skeptically of his last statement.

"I just do." Jayden says.

"Please, you're just saying all this because you're the leader." Traci snaps.

"No, I'm saying this because I want to be your friend, and I know that others do too." Jayden says.

"I'm sorry, but I just not ready to call all of you - my friends yet. Someday I will, when I know I can trust all of you." Traci says.

She turns around and runs into the house. Jayden runs after her. He catches up to her in time to have her bedroom door slammed in his face. Then he hears Traci lock the door.

"Traci, please open the door," Jayden says as he frantically turns the knob.

"No, leave me alone," Traci snaps.

Jayden tries three more times to get Traci to let him in. After she shouts for him to go away and she doesn't want to talk to him anymore, He turns around and a walk away to give her time to cool down and decides to try again later. On the other side of the door, Traci walks over to her bed. She does a belly flop onto after she puts her glasses on the nightstand and screams in her pillow. Afterward, she slowly lifts her head up.

"I should apologize to Jayden," Traci says.

Traci still feels worn out from fighting Negatron. She lays her head back down on her pillow again and drifts off to sleep. Twenty minutes later she wakes up, picks up her glasses, and goes over to her desk to fix her pillow head. Then she goes over to the door, unlocks it and goes to the kitchen. When she enters Jayden walks over to her.

"Jayden, I'm sorry about before I shouldn't have run off like that." Traci says.

"It's okay. I should have let you come to me when you were ready to talk about your feelings towards us becoming your friends." Jayden says in an understanding tone.

"True, but I need to let down my guard a bit. I know it will help everyone, especially in the field." Traci says.

"Yes, but you don't have to lower your shield so suddenly, you know. Trust me, you can lower it at the speed your comfortable with, deal." Jayden says.

"Deal," Traci says.


	8. Meeting a New Crush

Ch 8: Meeting a new crush

Normal POV

Traci is at Limitu Beach standing in front of the ocean skipping rocks. She picks up another stone and closes her eyes. She starts to picture a memory of the last time her Aunt Adrienne took her to the beach a when she was twelve. They were shipping stone. Traci picks up a rock. She flicks her wrist to skip across the water. She flicked her wrist too hard, and the stone sank into the ocean.

"Aunt Adrienne, this is impossible," Traci says.

"No, it's not sweetheart, here I'll show you," Adrienne says.

She picks up a smooth stone out of the sand. She dusts it off and hands it to her niece.

"Like this," Adrienne says.

She places her hand on Traci's wrist. She moves it the right way and tells her to let go. They watch the stone skipped five times over the water before sinking.

"I get it now, so can I try it by myself," Traci says.

Adrienne nods and takes a few steps back to give Traci some space. Traci picks up a rock and flicks her wrist like her Aunt showed her. She lets go of it, this time, it skipped seven times before sinking. She turns around to face her aunt.

"I did it," Traci cheers.

"See I told you that you could do it," Adrienne says proudly.

She opens her eyes and takes out her locket from under her collar. She holds it in her hand and opens it up. There was only one thing that brought Traci back to reality it was a seagull. A few seconds later she hears a loud caw and sees a blur of white as it quickly flies in. It snatches the pendant from her hand. The chain breaks as the gull flies away.

"Hey, bring that back you. It won't taste good at all," Traci shouts.

Traci chases after it. A mile down the beach a young fisherman with short black hair and brown eyes around Traci's age sees that she is about to trip over some driftwood. The Octozord comes out from his cooler and floats over to the gull. Back with Traci, she continues to shout at the gull telling it to drop her locket. She is about to trip over the driftwood. She feels someone grab her wrist and pull her to the left. She gets scared so closes her eyes. Meanwhile, in the sky, the Octozord squirts some ink towards the gull. It drops the locket and flies up to get out of the ink cloud. The necklace quickly falls towards the ocean. The squid flies down, and the chain wraps around one if its tentacles. Then it flies back over to its owner.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Back with Traci, she stumbles a bit and starts to lose her balance. She begins to fall backward. The fisherman lets go over her wrist. He catches her in his arms.

"You can open your eyes. I'm not going to hurt you." The fisherman says with a Hispanic accent.

Traci opens her eyes and sees her hero. She feels her heart start to beat like a bongo drum. She tries to talk, but all she could do is smile. The fisherman helps Traci to her feet. She turns to face him. She fixes her hair and hopes that she'll be able to talk if the fisherman spoke to her.

"Hello, I'm Antonio Garcia. I wasn't expecting to help out a girl as beautiful as you today, so what's your name?" Antonio says.

"Thanks, Antonio, I'm Traci De La Rosa, why did you help me?" Traci says shyly.

"Well, that's a lovely name, and I didn't want you to get hurt. If you kept going, you would have tripped over that piece driftwood." Antonio says as he points towards it.

"Yeah, I guess I wanted to get my locket back so bad, I forgot to look where I was going," Traci says in the same tone.

Then the Octozord appears in front of them. Antonio takes the locket off its tentacle, and it flies up to his right shoulder. Traci feels her zord crawl out of her pocket. The leopard walks down her legs and stands next to her right foot. She didn't notice since she was trying so hard not to act like a fool in front of Antonio.

"I like this belongs to you," Antonio says as he hands the locket to her.

"Thank you again," Traci says with a bit more confidence.

"You're welcome, so I see you have a zord too," Antonio says.

"Yup," Traci says quickly.

"How about we head back to my hut? I have a box for your locket that way your locket won't get snatched by any more seagulls." Antonio says.

Traci nods. She turns to her left, and they start to walk down the beach. The leopard picks up on Traci's nervousness. It leaps up and lands on the side of Traci's leg. The force causes Traci to bump into Antonio. They fall into the sand. Traci gets up quickly and puts her zord away before helping Antonio up.

"Sorry about that. I don't know why my zord did that." Traci says quickly.

"It's alright. I think it might have been trying to get you to relax." Antonio says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

A few minutes later they arrive at Antonio's fishing hut. Traci stays in the doorway. The Octozord flies over to the cooler. Antonio opens it, and it goes inside. He shuts it and goes over to the table, picks up the box and goes over to Traci. He hands it to her. Traci feels the butterflies in her stomach flutter like crazy when their hands touch. Antonio notices that she still hasn't let go or said another word.

"Traci, you can let go of my hand now," Antonio says calmly.

"Right, sorry, I've got to go. Thanks again for everything." Traci says blushing.

She puts her locket in the box, closes it, turns around and leaves Antonio's hut as fast as she can. Antonio stands in the doorway with a smile on his face.

"I know we'll meet again someday Traci. You're such an amazing girl, and I hope that you're still single" Antonio says.

When Traci was far enough away from it, so she slowed down to catch her breath. She couldn't believe that she just made a fool of herself in front of the first boy that said that she was pretty. She looks over towards the ocean to see the missing Swordfish Zord leap out if the water.

"No way, I have to tell the others," Traci says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

At the Shiba House, the Rangers enjoy their breakfast while Kevin takes forever to make his oatmeal. Jayden looks up and hears the front door open quickly. He sees Traci slides down the hallway. She stops suddenly and steps down into the room. Her shoes slip on the floor and face plants on the floor. The box slides across the floor and stops in front of Jayden. He sets down his bowl and picks it.

"Nice face plant Traci," Mike says.

"Traci, are you okay?" Emily says.

"Yeah," Traci says. She pushes herself up off the floor. "I'm all right,"

Jayden walks over to her and hands the box back to her.

"Where were you this morning?" Jayden asks.

"At Limitu Beach, and you won't believe what I saw when I was there." Traci answers.

"What did you see," Kevin asks.

"The swordfish zord," Traci says.

"What happened to your locket?' Emily asks.

"A seagull thought that it was breakfast," Tracy says.

Traci goes over to the table and sets it down. She picks up a bowl, puts some cereal it in, adds some milk and puts a spoon in it too. Before sitting down next to Mia, and starts eating her breakfast. A few seconds later she begins to think about Antonio. Mike looks over at her and notices her going off into space.

"Hey guys, check it out, I think that something else happened," Mike says.

The group looks over at Traci. They see her playing with her breakfast. Mike goes over to her and waves his hand in front of her face.

"Traci," Mike says.

Traci didn't hear him because she was too deep in flashback land. Mike bends down.

"What are you thinking about?" Mike shouts.

Traci comes back to reality quickly. She screams and falls out of her chair. Somehow her bowl lands on the top the chair flat. Mike snickers as Traci gets up.

"Seriously, did you have to do that?" Traci snaps.

"Sorry, I tried calling your name, but you didn't hear me," Mike says.

"Sorry," Traci says.

"Traci, something else happened didn't it?" Jayden asks.

"Yeah, I met a fisherman," Traci says.

"What did this fisherman look like?' Emily asks.

"He had short black hair and brown eyes. He also spoke with a Hispanic accent, and he had a zord too" Traci says.

"What did the zord look like?" Jayden asks.

"It looked like a squid," Traci says.

"That's the Octozord," Jayden says.

"Why would you call it Octozord if it looks like a squid?" Traci asks confused.

"It sounds better a lot better than squidzord," Jayden says.

"True," Traci says.

"Did he tell you his name?" Jayden asks.

"Yes, he said his name was…" Traci says.

The Gap Sensor alerts the Rangers to their next mission.

"Traci, I guess we'll have to pick up this conversation later. Kevin, I want you to catch the new zord. The rest of us will deal with the nighlok attack, let's go, team." Jayden says.

The Rangers run to a parking garage, where they smell the latest Nighlok, Yamiror. The Rangers morph into action. Meanwhile, Kevin arrives at the beach. He uses symbol power to summon a fishing rod. The Swordfish Zord leaps out of the water again. Kevin struggles to hook it on the end of his pole. The Nighlok attacks the Rangers one by one with his poison attack. He leaves the scene after his not-so-sweet victory.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Back at the beach, Kevin continues to use more Symbol power to catch the fish. All of his attempts fail until he faints, and wakes up in a hammock inside Antonio's fishing hut. Antonio goes over to him when he hears his guest start.

"Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?' Antonio says.

"Okay, but how did I get here?" Kevin asks.

" I brought you here after you fainted. You need to wear a hat; otherwise, you'll faint from being out in the sun too long. I'm afraid you stayed out a little too long my friend." Antonio says.

"My friend mentioned meeting a fisherman today. You match her description, so what's name? I'm Kevin, by the way." Kevin says.

"It's Antonio, and it's nice to meet you, Kevin," Antonio says.

Back at the house, Traci and Ji are sitting in the kitchen. Ji couldn't believe that she didn't get poisoned.

"Traci, I'm curious, how come you were the only one who wasn't affected by that nighlok's stench?" Ji asks perplexed.

"Three summers ago, my mom saved up some money for us to fly out to Texas to visit my cousins Mateo, Matthew, and Collin. Since I was the only girl, I had to deal with way too many disgusting smells from the three of them, and they smelled much worse than that nighloks stench. I guess you could say that my cousin helped me. Wow, I never thought I'd say those words." Traci says.

"I hope Kevin comes home with the swordfish zord soon," Ji says.

"Me too, if the nighlok comes back now we're in big trouble," Traci says.

Traci calls Kevin and tells him what happened.

"I'm on my way," Kevin says.

"Kevin you can't come back yet, I read in the archives that the Swordfish Zord has purifying powers," Traci says.

The Gap Sensor goes off. Traci is apprehensive about having to go off and battle the nighlok. She turns around to see Jayden walking out of the recovery room. He groans using the door frame to hold himself up.

"Jayden, I know you want to help, but you're in no shape to fight," Traci says.

"Jayden, I'm afraid that Traci is right. You need to stay here." Ji says.

Jayden grabs Traci's phone and tells Kevin that he is destined to catch the Swordfish Zord. Kevin regains confidence to continue fishing.

Traci and Jayden face off against Yamiror. Kevin continues his fishing attempts. Antonio arrives to help Kevin again after he almost passes out again.

"Kevin, why are you trying so hard to catch this fish? They're plenty of other fish out there pal." Antonio says.

"I know, but I need to catch the swordfish. I won't stop trying until I do." Kevin says.

Antonio helps Kevin to his feet. Kevin tries one more time to catch the zord.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

The Red Ranger fights strongly against Yamiror but is defeated by Yamiror's attack. Jayden stands confidently with the Spin Sword. Back at the Beach, Kevin waits patiently until the Swordfish bites down on the end of his line. Antonio lends a hand while Kevin struggles to hold on. The Swordfish Zord leaps out of the water again. Kevin takes the opportunity and captures the zord in the Disc. He thanks, Antonio again for the help. Jayden and Traci make one more attempt against Yamiror. Traci uses her frostbite staff ice storm to attack him, but he uses his bad breath to create a barrier and blocks her attack.

"No way, that's impossible," Traci says.

"Yes way," Yamiror says.

He redirects her attack towards them. They try to dodge it, but couldn't. They lay on the ground demorphed. Traci gets up and helps Jayden up.

"Jayden, what do we do now?" Traci asks.

"We keep fighting," Jayden says.

Mike and the other Rangers enter the scene.

"Y'all shouldn't be here; it's too dangerous," Traci says.

"Traci is right, Mike. You're sick," Jayden says.

"So are you Jayden," Emily says.

As Yamiror fires the blast, the Dragon Zord shields the Rangers from the attack

"The dragon zord, that must mean that Kevin caught the Swordfish," Traci says.

"Right again," Kevin says.

He runs up holding his new disk. He attaches the Disc to his Hydro Bow and aims it towards the sky. The purifying rain clears the air and destroys Yamiror's spell. The Rangers morph into action. A new villain (Deker) watches the fight from above. The Rangers use the 5 Disc Swordfish Cannon to defeat the Nighlok. He grows, so the Rangers form the Samurai Megazord. Traci calls for her new zord, the arctic fox.

"Traci, when did you figure out how to unlock that zord?" Mike asks.

"Honestly, I don't know," Traci says.

He fires his smoke attack to try to blind the Megazord. Traci's zord leaps into the air. When it lands, a huge glacier appears in front of it. The glacier prevents the smoke from hitting the Megazord.

"Okay, guys, how about you finish Mr. Halitosis off," Traci says.

"You got it, Traci. Swordfish zord," Kevin says, as he summons the Swordfish Zord.

The new zord fires a Torpedo Attack to knock Yamiror to the ground. Samurai Megazord combines with the Swordfish Megazord to form the Swordfish Fencer Megazord. The new formation transforms the Katana into its Twin Blade Mode. The Megazord defeats the Nighlok with the Swordfish Slash attack. Deker is impressed by the Rangers' victory. Three hours later the team went to the beach. Kevin, Traci, and Jayden are walking down the beach while the Rangers play in the water.

"Traci, you know that fisherman that help you earlier, I met him too," Kevin says.

"Did he mention me?" Traci asks.

"No, why do you ask?" Kevin says.

"Just curious," Traci says.

"What is this fisherman's name?" Jayden asks.

"Antonio," Traci says.

"Antonio, that's the name of my best friend from when I was a kid," Jayden says.

"Hey, guys, how about our next day off we spend it at the beach," Mia shouts.

"Sounds fun, but make sure you remember to bring some sunscreen," Kevin shouts back.


	9. Problem with wearing a wedding dress

Ch 9: Problem With Wearing a Wedding Dress

Normal POV

The next morning at dawn Traci is at the pier. She is sitting down on one of the benches playing "Happy" on her Vihuela. A few seconds later, she hears someone singing. She turns her head to the left to see Antonio walking up. He stops a few feet in front of her. She tries to keep her cool listening to Antonio's angelic voice as she continued to play the song. Two minutes later she puts her instrument down next to her.

"Antonio you have an excellent singing voice," Traci says whispers.

"Thanks, but I bet you have a good voice too," Antonio says smiling.

"I do, but I don't like having anyone around my age hearing me sing, though," Traci says a bit louder.

"Really, how come," Antonio asks.

"I don't want to talk about it," Traci says with a bit more confidence than before.

"Okay, do you mind if I sit next to you?" Antonio asks sweetly.

"Sure, there is plenty of room," Traci says, trying not to blush.

Antonio walks closer and sits down next to her. They are an arms length apart from each other. Traci set her right hand down on the bench. Antonio looks down and smiles. He sets his left hand down as well. He looks back out towards the ocean.

"So, do you have any family members that like to fish?" Antonio asks.

"Yes, my uncle Jorge, he lives in Mexico," Traci says.

"That's cool," Antonio says.

"Yeah, I was two, and ½ my mom and I flew to Mexico," Traci says.

"What about your dad?" Antonio asks.

"He couldn't come with us because his boss needed him to stay home to help him work on an important project," Traci says.

"I'm sorry so what happened while you and your mom were in Mexico?" Antonio asks.

"My uncle took me fishing for the first time," Traci says contentedly.

"Did your mom get it on video?" Antonio asks curiously.

"Yes, she did, but she has the video. She hasn't transferred it onto a DVD yet, so we can't watch it." Traci says.

"That's a bummer, so how about I buy you breakfast?" Antonio asks.

Traci didn't know what to say. She looks down towards her hand to see Antonio's hand it on top of hers. Her heart starts to flutter and tries her best to calm down. She couldn't and slowly looks up, and their eyes meet.

"Antonio, could you move your hand, please?" Traci says quickly.

"I don't want to," Antonio says sweetly.

Traci completely forgot how to speak once she sees his eyes sparkle when the first rays of the morning sun hit them. She starts giggling like a cheerleader and smiling like a fool.

"Is that a yes to breakfast, then?" Antonio asks.

Traci just nods since she completely lost her ability to speak.

"Great, let's go," Antonio says.

Antonio takes his hand off of Tracy's. They get up, and Traci picks up her Vihuela. She puts it back in the case. Then they head to the restaurant that was around the corner from them. After they ate, Traci takes a deep breath and tries to speak again.

"Thanks for breakfast, I should head back to the house now," Traci says.

"Yeah, but do you think that we could meet up again. There is this great fishing spot in the forest." Antonio says.

"Sure, I would like that a lot. Wait, so we're just going to be hanging out and doing some fishing right." Traci says.

"Yeah," Antonio says.

"Cool, when we will be doing this, exactly?" Traci asks.

"How about later on today say around 4:30," Antonio says.

"Okay, so we're meeting her at 4:30, right?" Traci asks.

"Yes, and then we'll head off to that spot I mentioned," Antonio says.

"So, I guess that I see you later then," Traci says.

"Yes, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you some more," Antonio says.

He takes hold of her right hand again. He kisses it. Traci's heart skips a beat and smiles again. She watches him walk away.

Traci walks to the kitchen after she put her instrument back in her room. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the others are eating breakfast. Mike looks over towards the door to see Traci skipping in and goes over to the bar to pour herself a cup of tea.

"Well, you're in a good mood this morning," Mike says.

"Yeah, so do you have a problem with that," Traci says.

"No, so where were you earlier?" Mike asks.

"I went to the pier," Traci says smiling.

"You ran into Antonio again, didn't you?" Emily says raising her eyebrow slyly.

"No," Traci says.

Emily watches Traci's cheek slowly starting to turn red.

"If you didn't run into him then why are you blushing?" Mike asks.

"Fine you caught me, he was there, but all we did was talk about fishing," Traci admits.

"You sure that nothing else happened," Mia asks.

Traci nods and starts to drink her tea. After breakfast, the group heads to the living room. They sit down and talk about the recent bride kidnapping.

"I can't believe that someone would do this," Mia says.

"Yeah, my mom said that your wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life," Traci adds.

"I think we should stage a fake wedding to lure the nighlok in," Jayden says.

"Sounds like a good idea so who is going to be the bride," Traci says.

"I'll do it, Traci. I've already picked out a dress," Mia says

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

At a wedding chapel, Mia and Jayden are standing at the altar as the organ plays the last note of the wedding march while the others are sitting in the pews. Traci is sitting next to Emily. She is wearing a silver dress.

"Wow, Mia looks stunning," Emily says.

"Yeah, she is better suited to be a bride unlike me," Traci says.

"Traci, don't say that you are pretty too. Besides, I thought you didn't want to be the bride." Mike says.

"Mike, you just assume that. You guys should have asked if all the girls who wanted to be the bride." Traci says.

The Moogers head towards a chapel. They are successful in their attempt to capture a bride. Back with the ranger, at their fake wedding, Mentor Ji gets a phone call about the captured bride.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

At the Shiba House, the Rangers plan their next move.

"How come our fake wedding didn't work?" Mike says.

"Maybe because our wedding didn't have any guests," Traci says.

"True, we should have planned it out a little bit more," Jayden says.

Ji shows them the list of the remaining weddings.

"Why are there so many weddings?" Mike asks.

"Well, Mike, summer is the peak of wedding season," Traci says.

The Moogers deliver the bride to Dayu's secret lair. Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers learn that there is only one wedding left on their list.

"Jayden, you warned people about the kidnappings, right?" Traci asks.

"Yes, now we know which wedding the nighlok will hit," Jayden says.

"Okay, so who is going to be the bride this time?" Traci asks.

"Traci, why don't you be the bride this time," Emily suggests.

"Mia is that okay with you? I know how badly you want to wear that dress again." Traci says.

"It's okay with me. I believe that every girl should have the chance to feel beautiful and wear a wedding dress." Mia says.

"Thanks, Mia, but I think you should be the backup just in case the nighlok figures out we tricked them," Traci says.

"Good idea, so what dress are you going to wear," Mia says.

"Yeah, have you seen Taylor Swift's Love Story music video?" Traci asks.

"Yes, that dress is so beautiful," Emily says.

"Traci, back at our wedding you said that you didn't think that you weren't pretty enough to wear a wedding dress?" Kevin asks.

"The truth is back in high school it was like all of the girls told me I wasn't pretty. They also said that the only guy would date me would have to be blind or just really desperate." Traci says.

"Traci, the girls said that because they were jealous," Ji says.

"I don't see why they would be jealous of me. They could, at least, get a boy to ask them out without having one of their friends daring them to." Traci says.

"Wait a second, so you're saying your first date wasn't real?" Mia says in disbelief

"Yes, I didn't find out until I went to school the next day. I overheard them talking at lunch." Traci says, "They also said that they knew what my calling was – being the world's charity case."

Traci feels her throat start to knot up because she was trying her best not to cry. She clenches her fists as well. Ji walks over to her. He can see the tears starting to build up in her eyes.

"Traci, you know holding back your tears when you feel like crying isn't healthy," Ji says.

"I know. Did I do something wrong to make those kids do what they did?"Traci says tearfully.

Ji sees a few tears start to escape from Traci's eyes. He doesn't say another word. He puts his arms around Traci and pulls her closer to him. Traci tries to break free from her mentor's hug. Instead, she sets her head on his chest, and the tears start to stream down her face. Emily and Mia walk over to her. They place a hand on either of her shoulders.

"Traci, you didn't do anything wrong. The people who were mean to you were the ones who thought it was okay to act the way they did." Mia says.

Traci slowly lifts her head up. She looks over at Mia. The pink ranger uses the back of her free hand to wipe a few of the tears away.

"Do you mean that," Traci asks.

Mia nods. Traci cracks a small smile. Then she looks back up at her mentor.

"Ji, I'm sorry about turning your kimono into a tissue," Traci says.

"It's okay, and if you ever feel like talking about anything my door is always open," Ji says.

"Thank you, Mentor," Traci says.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

At Dayu's lair, Dayu demands the Moogers to get more brides. At the wedding chapel, Mia, and the Rangers arrive to warn the bride and groom. Traci and Jayden walk down the aisle; the silver ranger is nervous.

"Are you sure that the Moogers are going to show up?" Traci asks.

"Yes, they will just remember the plan," Jayden says.

"You got it, boss," Traci says.

A few seconds later the moogers crash the wedding and attack the bride. Traci nods to Jayden so he let her get captured. The Moogers capture Traci.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

At Dayu's Lair, the moogers toss Traci down towards the floor. Traci tries her best not to have a flashback about her father getting ready to punch her or use some other part of his body or his belt to hit her. Dayu gets down and places her hands on her Vail. Traci recognizes Dayu, who also recognizes her. She quickly flips it up and sees pure fear in the silver ranger's eyes. The nighlok's human side could sense that something was wrong. Traci back away quickly and takes out her morpher to defend herself. She is so scared that the morpher slips out of her hand and falls to the floor.

"Moogers go and bring back the real bride." Dayu orders.

Traci picks up her morpher. She looks up to see Dayu starting to come closer to her.

"Stay away or I'll turn you into an ice sculpture," Traci says.

"Relax, silver ranger, I won't make you send the other Rangers into a trap – yet. I just want to talk to you." Dayu says.

"Why, would I tell you anything, you're a nighlok? You would probably just repeat everything I say to Master Xandred so he could use it against me." Traci says.

"I have a feeling that anything you might tell me isn't going to be able to help him in any way. One more thing Ranger, I'm not a true nighlok. I have a human side too." Dayu says.

"Let me guess your human side picked up on my terrible childhood," Traci says.

"Yes, and that you've had your self-esteem and your confidence broken down so much, because of that person who abused you that you've trapped yourself in a deep hole. All you want is for someone to throw you something to help to get out, but you're not sure if the other Rangers will be that someone am I right?" Dayu says.

"Yes, but it's not like you can figure out who abused me," Traci says confidently.

"Your dad," Dayu says.

"How did you know," Traci says in shock.

"Just a lucky guess," Dayu says.

"Yes, my dad was abusive. In his eyes, I was a disgrace and didn't deserve to have his last name. He even told me that he wouldn't care if I got lost, kidnapped, or hurt so bad that I died." Traci says wobbly.

"That's terrible, and it explains why you put up so many walls around your heart. You don't want to get hurt again." Dayu says.

"Yes, I wanted to apologize for my lack of self-confidence in certain situations. I found out that it is hard to believe in myself when the one person who was supposed my first real male role model didn't believe in me. Not to mention I felt I matured faster than other girls. " Traci says.

"Have you told the other rangers about this?" Dayu asks.

Traci shakes her head no. Dayu wants to get more information out of her. Then her nighlok side takes control again. She snatches Traci morpher out of her hand. The Moogers deliver the real bride. Dayu orders Traci to send the Rangers to a warehouse that was full of explosives. She calls Jayden and tells him that she is okay and to go to the warehouse. The Rangers race to the location. As the Rangers enter, the doors close behind down. The warehouse explodes.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Back with Traci and Dayu, she boasts about her success. Then she walks over to her wedding dress made from the tears of the kidnapped brides.

"I hate to admit it, but that dress is beautiful," Traci says, thinking out loud.

The Rangers enter the scene. Mia slices her way out and reveals their plan. The brides escape the temple. The Rangers morph into action. Dayu and the Moogers leave the temple. The Rangers face off against the swarm of Moogers. Dayu makes her appearance against the Silver and Pink Rangers. The two Rangers fight against the powerful adversary. Jayden decides to fight Dayu one on one. After he was able to push her back far enough so the girls could combine their Spin Sword attacks to weaken Dayu. Deker enters the scene. He tells Jayden that he will fight him one day and escape with Dayu. Before he leaves, Deker summons some Giant Moogers to deal with the team. The Rangers form the Samurai Ice Storm Megazord after Traci uses her Leopard Zord's special attack to turn the moogers into ice sculptures. Then the team activates the ice storm Megazord's final strike to finish them off.

= A Dyslexic Ranger =

The Rangers are walking to the bakery. Traci is wearing a cream colored t-shirt, a pair of boyfriend jeans and a pair of black lace-up tennis shoes. Mike compliments Emily on how pretty she was in her wedding dress. Traci wonders why Dayu wanted her wedding dress so bad. Jayden ponders about the warrior that protected Dayu.

"Traci, good job about telling us to have a backup bride," Kevin says.

"Thanks, Kevin," Traci says.

The Rangers head inside the bakery and bump into Antonio.

"Hey, I didn't think that I would see you here," Traci says.

"Yeah, I have a big sweet tooth, and their Double Feature Cupcakes with Mexican Hot Chocolate Frosting are amazing," Antonio says.

"I know which one I want," Traci says.

"So, Antonio, are you ever going to visit us at the Shiba house?" Jayden asks.

"Soon, mi hermano, I promise," Antonio says.

"Okay, I can't wait. I'm looking forward to getting the chance to catch up." Jayden says.

"Me too, so Traci, we are still meeting at the pier at 4:30," Antonio says.

"Yes," Traci says.

"Wait, since when are you two a couple?" Mike asks.

"It's not a date. He just offered to show me a fishing spot in the forest." Traci says.

"Since when do you like to fish?" Mike asks.

"Since my uncle Jorge took me fishing when I was 2 and ½. Antonio, I have a better idea, how about all of us hang out for a bit." Traci says.

"Sure, I'd like that." Antonio says.

Antonio walks over to Traci. He takes hold of her hand and leads her into the bakery. The others watch Traci's cheeks start to turn red. They follow them inside. Everyone picked out a cupcake and paid for it. They head back outside and find a place to sit down. Traci sits down at a table and waits for the others to sit down too. They get another table and takes their seats. Antonio walks over to Traci's table. He sees that Traci cut her cupcake in half.

"Hey, beautiful, why did you just cut it in half?" Antonio asks.

"I wanted to save some for later." Traci says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

A few seconds later two girls, Tammy, and Sally walk up to the table. Tammy is holding a cupcake that has a jalapeño as a topper in her right hand. Sally is holding a cherry cupcake in her right hand.

"Hey, Tammy, I think her shirt could use some more color. Don't you think?" Sally asks.

"Yes, and she needs to lose these nerdy glasses too." Tammy says.

Sally smashes her cupcake onto Traci's shirt. Then she pushes Traci out of her chair. Traci gets up and sees that Tammy took the jalapeño off of her cupcake. She walks up to Traci, ripped the glasses off of Traci's face and squeezed it. Traci screams as her eyes started to burn because of the capsaicin in the pepper juice. Antonio gets out of his chair. He takes Traci's glasses back from Tammy. The others jog up to them.

"What happened," Jayden asks.

"I need some help Traci has jalapeño juice in her eyes after she squeezed it." Antonio explains as she points towards Tammy.

"Why did you do that?" Kevin asks.

"That girl is ugly and a dork she shouldn't be hanging out with a guy as cute as him." Tammy says.

"Listen, whoever you are, stop talking about Traci like that. She isn't a dork or ugly. She is smart and prettier than you." Antonio says.

"I'm Tammy. I bet you're only being friends with her because you feel sorry for her." Tammy says.

"Listen, Tammy, we are friends with Traci because we've gotten a chance to know her." Jayden says.

"Plus, she doesn't deserve to have friends." Tammy says.

"Yes, she does. Everyone deserves to have friends. Honestly, Tammy, I don't know why you do? You treat others with such disrespect." Jayden says.

"Whatever, let's go, Sally." Tammy says.

Tammy picks Traci up and is about to punch her in the stomach. Kevin stops her by grabbing her fist. She drops Traci and uses her free hand to hit Kevin. Traci heard the punch land. She backs up to get to her feet. A few seconds later Tammy walks away with Sally each has an enormous smile on their face and are laughing proudly. Traci tries not to starch her eyes even though she wanted to. She stumbles over to the group. Antonio catches her in his arms. He helps Traci to her feet.

"Traci, we need to get that juice out of your eyes." Antonio says.

"I know it stings. Kevin, are you okay?" Traci says.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kevin says.

"Mike, go back inside the bakery to get some whole milk." Antonio says.

"How come," Mike asks.

"I'll explain after we help Traci." Antonio says.

Mike runs back into the bakery. He explains what happened outside. One of the workers, Sammy, runs into the back room and comes back with an eye wash bottle filled with whole milk. She hands the bottle to him.

"Thank you," Mike says.

Mike runs back out to the others. Antonio tells Traci to tilt her head back. She nods and slowly tilts her head back. Mike opens the bottle and squeezes it until enough milk was in her eye. He repeats the process with the other eyes. Traci felt instant relief when its her eyes. Ten minutes later she tilts her head, so it was upright again. Antonio picks up a napkin off the table and dries the milk from Traci's eyes. Traci blinks a few times, and he hands her glasses back to her. She puts them back on.

"Thanks, Mike," Traci says.

"You're welcome. I should go back inside and give this back." Mike says as he heads back to the bakery.

"Antonio, Jayden, I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me like that I appreciate it." Traci says.

"You're welcome, bontia," Antonio says as he put his arm around Traci's shoulders.

Mia looks at her shirt and sees a line of red icing on her shirt.

"Traci, what happened to your shirt?" Mia asks.

"The other girl smashed her cupcake on my shirt ruining it." Traci says.

"Traci, why don't you go home and change, I promise when you get back from hanging out Antonio it will look like new again." Mia says.

"Thanks, Mia," Traci says.

"You're welcome," Mia says.

Traci looks down and sees that Antonio's arm on her shoulder. She didn't understand why she okay with it. Then she looks to her left, and her eyes meet Antonio's again.

"I guess that I'll see in a bit at the pier." Antonio says.

"Yeah," Traci says.

Antonio leans in and kisses her on the cheek. Then he takes his arm off her shoulder and says goodbye to Jayden and the others before walking away. They notice that Traci was standing like a deer caught in the headlights and is smiling like a fool.

"Traci, are you okay?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, but I just want to make sure I wasn't dreaming did Antonio just kiss me?" Traci asks.

Emily nods. Traci places her hand on her cheek where Antonio kissed her.

"What does it mean when a boy does that?" Traci asks.

"Antonio likes you." Emily says.

"Wow, you think so?" Traci asks.

"Yup," Mia says.

"Traci, you like Antonio don't you?" Jayden asks.

"Yes, I do, but you have to promise me if we run into him again, you won't say a word to him about it. Plus, after what happened in high school, I never thought that anyone would make me feel the way I do when Antonio is around." Traci says.

"Traci, we won't say a word. How do you feel when he is around?" Mia asks.

"I keep getting butterflies in my stomach and sometimes I even forget how to talk." Traci says.

"Traci, you need to tell him how you feel." Jayden says.

"I will, soon, I want to get to know him a little bit more before I do, though. I need to get going it would be rude if I show up late to meet Antonio at the pier." Traci says.

Traci goes back to the house. She walks to her room to pick out a clean shirt. She takes a few shirts out of her drawer and lays them on the bed. One is a blue and has a picture of a cat sitting next to a fish bowl wearing scuba gear, the next one is black and says "I'm not short, I'm fun size," the third shirt is pink and says "How are you still single?", The last shirt is a navy/white Dotted Tulip-Sleeve Blouse. She thinks about which shirt she should wear for a few minutes. She decided to go with the Scuba Kitty shirt. She puts the others shirts away after she changed into the scuba kitty shirt. She leaves the cupcake stained shirt on her desk before heading out to the pier.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

She arrives at the pier ten minutes early. She walks over to the same bench that she sat on earlier to wait for Antonio. She thought about how she was going to tell Antonio that she liked him – a lot. After thinking about it for a few minutes, she gets up and walks over to the railing to look out at the ocean and is about to practice what she was going to Antonio by telling it to the ocean. Then she hears Antonio walking up pulling his cart. She turns to her left and seeing the Octozord coming over to her. It lands on her shoulder.

"Hello, I guess you like me too." Traci says.

The Octozord chips few times before Traci's Leopard zord crawls out of her pocket. It walks up her arm and growls at the Octozord. It floats up quickly, and the leopard bats at the Octozord's tentacles. Then it leaps off her shoulder and chases it around the pier. Traci turns around and is glad that no one is here right now to see their zords. The Octozord tries to go back over to Antonio after making a quick turn. The leopard zord does a back flip. It flips to high that it lands on top of the Octozord and pins it down against the dock. Traci and Antonio run over to the zords.

"Sorry Antonio, I hope that the Octozord didn't get damaged." Traci says, as she picks up her zord and put it back in her pocket.

"Don't worry Traci, your zord is a cat, so it was just doing what cats do," Antonio says, as he sees his zord quickly float back up into the sky.

The Octozord flies over to the cart. They walk over to it too. Antonio opens the lid; the zord goes inside, and he closes the lid. Traci notices that there is only one fishing pole.

"How come there is only one pole." Traci says.

"I thought we could share since my other pole broke yesterday when I tried to catch a huge fish." Antonio explains.

"Sounds like fun, let's hope that we don't catch another big fish, and then you won't be able to fish again." Traci says.

Ten minutes later they arrive at the fishing spot. Antonio puts the cart next to a tree. He hands the pole to Traci after he put some bait on it. They walk over to the stream.

"Do you know how to cast it?" Antonio asks.

"Yup," Traci says.

Antonio watches Traci pull the rod back, so the tip sweeps over her dominant shoulder, and then bring it forward swiftly, pointing the rod tip at her target. When it comes forward over her shoulder, she let her thumb off the spool so the lure can pull line off the reel. Then she put her thumb back down on the spool when the lure splashes into the water.

"Nicely done," Antonio says.

"Thanks." Traci says.

Antonio walks over to her. He gets behind her and places his hands on top hers. Traci tries to keep her cool as the butterflies in her stomach are going crazy. She starts humming a song that her Aunt Adrienne taught her to help her relax if she is ever nervous before a performance. After she stops humming the song, she calmed down enough to talk again.

"Antonio, what else do you like to do, besides fishing?" Traci asks.

"Playing my guitar, fixing broken computers and other pieces of tech, what about you?" Antonio says.

"Other than playing my Vihuela, I like to draw and paint too. If you don't mind me asking, what was your father like?" Traci says.

"My dad, he was great. He taught me how to fish and always encouraged me to try new things." Antonio says.

"Did he tell you that he was proud of you and that he loved you?" Traci asks as her bottom lip starts to tremble.

"Yes, all the time." Antonio says.

Antonio looks down to see Traci's upper eyelids droop and suddenly didn't want to fish anymore. He also sees the corner of her lips pull down slightly. Then she takes her hands off the rod slowly. Antonio puts his hands on it after Traci's hands are at her sides. He decides to reel in the line so they won't get hurt in case a fish did bite.

"Why are you doing that, I thought we were going to do some fishing?" Traci asks as she hears him reeling in the line.

"You looked so sad all of a sudden and I didn't want us to get hurt if we got a bite." Antonio says.

Antonio walks back over to the cart and puts the rod away. Traci follows him and stands a few steps away from him.

"I'm sorry Antonio. I know you wanted to get to know me while do a little fishing." Traci apologizes.

"It's okay, and I'm not mad." Antonio says.

"You're not," Traci says.

Antonio turns to his left. He steps closer and places his hand on her shoulder.

"Traci, I have a feeling that your father acted differently than my dad." Antonio says.

"Yes, my dad said that I was a disgrace and didn't deserve to his last name." Traci says.

Antonio sees a few tears roll down her cheeks. The next thing he knew Traci steps closer and set her head on his chest. He took his hand off her shoulder. Then he wraps his arms around her gives a hug. Antonio wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. His heart was breaking just hearing her cry. He was mad also thinking about how her father could live with himself after how badly he treated Traci. Three minutes later, Traci stopped crying and looks up at him.

"I'm sorry about turning into a crybaby." Traci says.

"It's okay Traci. Your father shouldn't have treated you like that. A good father loves their child unconditionally no matter what the gender that child is," Antonio says.

Antonio let Traci go. She takes a few steps back before taking off her glasses. Antonio unties the scarf around his neck. He walks up to her again. He gently dabs away the stray tears from Traci's eyes before tying it around her neck.

"Why did you just do tie your scarf around my neck?" Traci asks.

"I wanted to give you a memento of me until we meet again." Antonio says.

"Thank you, but don't you need it." Traci says.

"Not really, I have more at home. Plus, it looks much better on you. It makes your pretty blue eyes pop even more." Antonio says.

"Thanks, so when are we going to hang out again?" Traci asks.

"How about I call you tomorrow and we can plan it out together?" Antonio says.

"Okay," Traci says, trying not to giggle like a school girl.

They give the other their morpher to put their number on it. After they have their morpher back, the two sit down under the tree. Traci sets her head on his shoulder. Antonio looks down at her.

"Do you want me to move?." Traci says.

"No, it's okay." Antonio says.

Antonio looks back up out towards the stream. He puts his arm around her again. They sit under the tree for a few minutes watching a few fish leaping out of the water. They didn't know Dayu was watching them through a gap. She could tell that Traci was happy seeing the huge smile on her face and picking up on the other non-verbal signs she was giving off. Ten minutes later they said goodbye and went their separate ways.


	10. Traci's Test of Will Power

Ch 10: Traci's Test Of Will Power

Normal POV

The next morning, after breakfast, Traci walks outside. She still has Antonio's scarf on. Mike and the others look over at her.

"Traci, did Antonio give you that?" Mia asks.

"Yeah, he said it was a souvenir," Traci says.

"That's so romantic," Emily says.

"Yeah, I know," Traci says.

"Guys, we can get her to talk about her date later," Jayden says.

"It wasn't a date, so what are we going to do today?" Traci says.

"We are going to do some practice sparring," Jayden says.

"Are we going to spar with our spin swords or the bamboo ones?" Traci says.

"Our Spin Swords," Jayden says.

"Okay, so who is facing who?" Traci asks.

"I thought that we could spar if you're up to it," Jayden says.

Traci nods. They morph and walk over the platform. Ji could tell that Traci was nervous because her hands were shaking as she was holding her sword. He was about to tell her to relax. When he notices her tighten her grip suddenly and hear her let out a deep breath.

"How do we know when to start?" Traci asks.

"You can start now," Ji says.

Jayden charges in and Traci begins to hum her favorite song to train by to herself. Traci blocks his attack before counter-attacking by taking one step back before doing a downward strike of her own. Mentor Ji boasts about Jayden's skills.

"Traci is graceful with a sword too," Mia says.

"Yeah, she is right up there with Jayden," Mike says.

Traci gets distracted hearing the others compliments and forgets where she was in the song. She swings her sword to left instead of the right. Jayden knocks Traci sword away. She hears her sword make a clunking sound when it hit the platform. She stops humming and starts to get scared that the others are going to laugh at her for what just happened. The Rangers are confused as they watch Traci slowly walk backward to the edge of the platform. Ji has a good idea why Traci is acting like this. They watch as she gets to the edge and starts to fall backward towards the ground. Traci demorphs when she hits the gravel. Jayden set his sword down and jogs over to her.

"Traci, are you okay?" Jayden asks as he holds out his hand.

"Yeah, I'm all right," Traci says.

Traci slaps his hand away before getting to her feet by herself. Then she takes out her morpher and draws a symbol to make her spin sword disappear. Jayden demorphs he has a confused look on his face when he sees Traci turn her body towards the house.

"Traci, a real samurai, never runs from a fight," Kevin says.

"That's true Kevin, but this isn't a fight. It's just practice," Traci says, as she jogs into the house.

"I'll talk to her. Kevin why don't you spar with Jayden," Ji says.

"Okay mentor," Kevin says.

Jayden morphs again. Kevin does too, and they start sparring. In the woods, Metamot arrives and scares off the fellow hikers. Back at the house, Ji sees Traci practicing in the Dojo with her spin sword. He watches her doing a few flips before the gap sensor goes off. The loud sound causes her to lose her train of thought again. Her dyslexia kicks in, and she swings her sword in the wrong direction and to trip over her own two feet. She gets up and sees Ji standing in the doorway.

"Hi Ji," Traci says.

"Traci, what happened out there?" Ji asks.

"I got distracted when I heard everyone complimenting me. After I had made that mistake, I was afraid that they were going to laugh at me." Traci says.

The Rangers run into the room. Traci saw them and decided to change the subject. She walks into the living room to activate the map.

"Where is the nighlok?" Emily asks.

"The forest right outside of town," Traci says.

"Let's go, team," Jayden says.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

The Rangers race to the scene to face off against Metamot, who summons the Tiger Zord. Red Ranger immediately recognizes the zord. The nighlok explains how he was able to save and tame the zord. Traci sees that Metamot was going to blast Kevin with his mind control beam.

"Kevin, look out," Traci shouts.

She runs over to him and pushes him out of the way. The blast hits her, and she feels the spell taking control. Under her helmet, Traci's dark blue eyes turn to a lighter shade of blue. A few seconds later she drops to her knees. Kevin runs over to her.

"Traci, are you okay?" Kevin asks.

Traci leans back onto her elbows. She kicks him in the chest. Kevin rolls along the forest floor a few times before stopping in front of a tree. Traci walks over to Metamot. Mia goes over to Kevin. She helps him up.

"It looks like I have a new minion, I call her Silver. Now, destroy the Rangers." Metamot says.

Traci starts to attack the other Rangers.

"Traci, we're your friends," Mia says.

"Mia's right, you have to fight the nighlok's spell," Kevin says.

"I don't need friends. You have two choices, one fight and destroy me. Two, not fight and all the city you love to be overrun by the nighlok," Traci says.

Traci activates her hail storm symbol. The stones hit the team except for Jayden. He uses his symbol power to melt the stone before it hit him. The others are sent flying in different directions after trying to block them with their swords. Each ranger hit the tree closest to them. Jayden runs towards Metamot, who fires a blast at him. He uses Symbol Power to block the attack. Traci defeats the Rangers with her spin sword attack. Jayden turns around to see his team lying on the forest floor demorphed. He runs over to them and retreats.

"I need to go back to the river to rehydrate. Sliver, wait here with the tiger zord." Metamot says.

"Yes, sir," Traci says.

At the Shiba House, Jayden and Mentor Ji plan their next move.

"There is one thing I don't understand," Mike says.

"What's that Mike," Jayden says.

"If Traci said she doesn't need friends, why did she take that hit for Kevin?" Mike says.

"Maybe she is letting down her guard," Kevin says.

"Jayden, you may have no choice but to fight Traci," Ji says.

"I know Ji, but we need to break the Nighlok's spell on her before I need to do that." Jayden says.

= A Dyslexic Ranger=

Back with Traci and the tiger zord, she was able to break free from the nighlok's spell. She demorphs and tries to call the team.

"Jayden, please pick up before the spell takes control again." Traci whispers.

A few seconds later she hears Jayden's voice on the other end, "Traci, you need to come back to the house now so that Metamot can't use you a pawn in his twisted game of chess." Jayden says.

"I can't Jayden, what if I come back, and I hurt Ji while Y'all are out batting Metamot. I'm sorry Jayden, but that is one risk I'm not willing to take to save the world." Traci says.

Jayden hears Traci groans of pain as the spell was taking control again. He is about to ask her where Metamot was going to attack next. Traci just hangs up and morphs again before Metamot returns. Back at the house, Jayden put his morpher back in his pocket.

"Jayden, is she coming back so we can protect her?" Kevin asks.

"No, she didn't want to risk Ji's safety while she is still under the spell," Jayden says.

"She broke free to call you, didn't she?" Emily asks.

"Yes, but she was only able to remain in control for a few seconds." Jayden says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

At the quarry, Metamot watches proudly as his evil Silver Ranger attacks the workers, but Metamot didn't know that Traci broke free from the spell again long enough to apologize to the workers for her actions. The Gap Sensor alerts the Rangers to battle. Mentor Ji informs the Rangers that Jayden went without them. The Rangers decide that they must help Jayden. At the quarry, Jayden confronts Traci. The Rangers enter the scene. Jayden morphs into action. Metamot and the Rangers watch Traci and Jayden engage in a fierce fight.

The Rangers watch as their friends fight each other. Deker enters the scene and becomes the official commentator.

"It seems that the nighlok has underestimated the Silver Ranger's will power," Deker says.

"How can you be so sure," Mia says.

"The Silver Warrior wants to show the nighlok how strong she is, but deep down she knows what she doing is wrong." Deker says.

"So she isn't just fighting Jayden, she is fighting herself too," Kevin says.

"Exactly, but they both have a good stance, it's hard to tell when this battle will end." Deker says.

The Rangers watch as Traci did the same thing while they were sparring this morning.

"It looks like Traci heard the compliment," Emily says.

"It sure looks like it Em," Mike says.

They watch Jayden activate the disk to attack Traci. The flames swirl around the blade, and he slices her right above her belly button. Traci starts to groan as the disk's power begins to work helping to break free from the spell. Under her helmet, Traci's eyes return to their original color, and she begins to feel lightheaded before she faints. The Rangers run over to her, Kevin puts her head on his lap. A minuter later she awakens to see her teammates.

"Hey Y'all, how did I get here?" Traci asks.

"We'll tell you later," Kevin says.

Kevin helps Traci up. Jayden reveals his plan to Madimot. The Rangers morph into action except for Traci.

"Traci, we need you, morph already," Mike says.

"No you don't Mike. I've done enough," Traci says.

She goes to a safe spot and let them handle the nighlok. Jayden summons the Lion Zord to take on the Tiger Zord. The Rangers face off against the Nighlok. After a brief battle, the Lion Zord defeats the Tiger Zord. Jayden leaps into the Tiger Zord and uses the Resist Disc to break the spell. The Rangers use the Quintuple Slash attack to defeat the Nighlok. Metamot grows into his large form. Tiger Zord fights quickly against Madimot. The Rangers form the Tiger Drill Megazord. Metamot uses his shield to block the new formation's attacks. Tiger Drill Megazord uses the drill attack to break the shield and destroy the Nighlok. Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers are sitting in the living room talking about their recent victory.

"Everyone, I'm sorry about what happened today," Traci says.

"Traci, it wasn't your fault," Emily says.

"Yes, it was I should have come back here like Jayden told me to. Instead, I let that nighlok continue to control me, and you all got hurt because of me. I guess I'm not as strong as my mom after all." Traci says.

"Traci, don't say that you're even stronger than your mom. You mastered a disk that she and your aunt couldn't." Kevin says.

"You were able to break free from nighlok's spell, too," Ji says.

"True, but I wasn't able to break free for very long before it took over again," Traci says.

"Metamot was the one who was playing games out there today," Jayden says.

"I know, and we were the pieces. Jayden, I raised my sword against you. I could have hurt you and then we wouldn't have a leader." Traci says.

"Yes, and I had to raise mine against you," Jayden says.

"Traci, there may be another battle in the future where you may have to put the others at risk," Ji says.

"I know, but I should have trusted my instincts instead of my heart. I need to stop listening to my heart all it does is get me into trouble." Traci says.

Traci gets out of her chair and runs out of the room. She runs down the hallway to her room, quietly closes the door behind her, lock it, went over to her desk after packing up her backpack. She sits down with her backpack on her back and starts to write a letter.

_Dear everyone,_

I'm sorry, but I believe that the team is better with me. You deserve a ranger who is a better fighter than me, has faster reflexes, grew up in a loving home with two parents who loved you, and someone who dedicated their whole lives to their training, not just a few months. I appreciate that you all acted like real friends to me and made the Shiba house feel like a home too. I don't belong here. I guess the bullies were right, I'm meant to be friendless and never fall in love.

Traci

Traci takes off the scarf Antonio gave her and set it down next to the letter. Then she takes her zord out of her pocket placed it to the right of the letter, gets up and walks over to the bed, climbs to the window, sits down on the sill and takes out her morpher one last time before looking back outside and draws the avalanche symbol. She puts her hands behind her and let her morpher go. She glances back and sees it sitting on her pillow. She jumps down from the window and lands softly into the snow pile she created. She walks out, dusts the excess snow off, and runs off into the woods as fast as she can.


	11. Antonio's Apartment Sleepover Part 1

Ch 11: Antonio's Apartment Sleepover Part 1

Normal POV

Traci keeps running through the forest till she is far enough away from the Shiba House to help her forget how she let everyone down - especially her mom. Those constant thoughts distracted her so much that she didn't see the tree root on the path a few feet in front of her till she trips over it, and groans as she rolls onto to her back and hears a ripping sound as she slides her right foot out from underneath the knot in it. Once her foot is free, she looks down to see a small rip in the fabric right above the ankle.

"Great, this was my favorite pair of jeans," Tracy grumbles.

She stands up and starts to run again. As soon as her right foot touches the dirt path she winces in pain. She realizes that her only choice is to walk or limp deeper into the forest.

Meanwhile at the Shiba House, the Rangers finished their game of Shoot and Ladders. They put their zords back on the start circle. Kevin reshuffles the cards and sets them on the designated spot on the board.

"Do you guys think that Traci might want to play this time?" Emily asks.

"Maybe Emily, I'll ask her," Mia says.

Mia leaves the group and walks down the hallway to Traci's room. She knocked on the door but didn't hear Traci say anything.

Maybe, she is taking a nap. She is a very heavy sleeper, Mia thinks.

She opens the door, and her eyes instantly widen in disbelief seeing the empty room. She walks over to the bed and sees Traci's morpher onto of it.

"Guys, come here quick," Mia shouts.

The others sprint into the room. They share Mia's sense of disbelief seeing Traci's empty room. Kevin walks over to Mia.

"I knew she was upset about what happened earlier, but I never thought that she would run away," Kevin says.

"Me either, but how come we didn't hear her," Mia asks.

Mia picks up Traci's Samuraizer. Kevin looks up and sees the open window. He jumps onto the bed, goes over to the window to close it. The blue ranger looks down to see a huge puddle underneath it before closing it and slowly turning back around. He jumps back down onto the floor.

"She used one of her symbols to make a huge snow pile under her window," Kevin says.

They walk over to the others who gathered around the desk. Jayden picks up the note and Traci's zord. "Come on everyone, we need to tell Ji,"

Antonio's POV

I'm doing my evening hike through the forest. It was going exactly like it did yesterday till I see someone unconscious on the path. I run up, and I'm in shock seeing who it was. I immediately bend down and place Traci's head on my lap and gently shake her to try to wake her up.

"Traci, wake up, are you okay?" I ask.

I let out a sigh of relief when I hear her let out a soft moan and see her eyes begin to flutter. A smile when I see her beautiful blue eyes open completely.

"Hey, Antonio, I'm fine I just lost for a second," Traci answers.

I help her up, and we walk over to a hollow log near us. While we were walking, I notice that she is limping. We sit down, and I ask,"Why are you limping,"

"While I was running away from the Shiba House I tripped over a tree root," Tracy answers quickly.

"Can you say that again a little slower," I say.

"I was running away from the Shiba House, and I tripped over a tree root," Traci says.

"Why did you run away?" I ask.

"It's a long story," She answers.

"How about we go back to my apartment, and you can tell me there," I say.

Traci nods. We get up, and Traci tries to walk. She starts to lose her balance, so I catch her in my arms before she hits the ground.

"Why don't I give you a piggy back ride back? I don't want to faint from trying to walk all the way on that ankle."

"I don't have much choice since my ankle has already decided that I'm not walking anymore right now," Traci says.

I chuckle as I help her to her feet. She sits back down on the log. I crouch down in front of her. Traci climbs onto my back. I slowly stand up and begins to walk down the path.

Normal POV

The Rangers walk into the kitchen and see Ji is setting the table. Kevin sets Traci's morpher down. Ji looks over at the blue ranger and sees his mouth is closed, and his lips were tight.

"What's wrong?" Ji asks.

"Traci ran away," Kevin says.

"She left a note," Jayden says.

"Can I see it," Ji asks.

Jayden hands the note to him.

"What does it say," Mia asks.

"That she believes that the team is better without her," Ji says. "Also, she appreciated that we made the Shiba House feel like home to her."

"Why would she acknowledge that we made this place feel home?" Mia asks.

"Maybe, after her parents separated, Traci's dad could have kicked them out, and they've been living in a homeless shelter for a while," Kevin says.

"Come on, Kev, that's crazy," Mike says.

Ji sets the note down on the table. Everyone looks down at it and sees a some of the words were hard to make out, and some of the letters are backward.

"Wow, she has terrible handwriting," Mike says.

"Mike, be nice, she was upset when she wrote it," Emily says. "Why does she think that she wouldn't fit in?"

"We all grew up with two parents that loved us. While her mom raised her singled handed," Jayden says.

"I'm sure her mom made sure that she trained hard up till she got the message arrow," Kevin says.

"She's only been training for a year," Jayden says.

"She is a quick learner if she mustered all her symbols in that short amount of time," Kevin says.

"We need to look for her," Emily says.

"You can't it's going to be dark soon," Ji says.

=A Dyslexic Ranger=

Antonio walks up to the front door of the apartment complex.

"Antonio, I think my ankle is okay to walk on," Traci says.

He crouches down and Traci climbs of his back. She takes a few steps and starts limping again. She makes it to the door before she loses her balance again. She falls backward, and Antonio catches her in his arms again.

"I think you shouldn't try to walk on it, yet," Antonio says.

"Maybe your right," She says.

"Here put your arm around my neck," Antonio says.

Traci slowly puts her arm around my neck. He places his arm around her waist. The automatic door slides open, and they walk into the lobby. Antonio's parents get up from their chairs and walk up to them. Antonio's mom, Camila, has hazel eyes, long, curly, brown hair. She is wearing a flower print t-shirt, a nice pair of slacks, and a pair of black flats. Antonio's dad, Levi, has brown eyes and short black hair like Antonio. He is wearing a button-up blue plaid shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of loafers.

."Hello son," Camila says.

"Hi, mom," Antonio says.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia," Traci says

"Hello, young lady, what's your name?" She asks.

"Traci De La Rosa, Ma'am," Traci says.

"Traci, you can call me Camila," She says.

"How about we continue this conversation at my apartment," Antonio says.

"Okay," Levi says.

Antonio's POV

We walk to my apartment. I give dad the key from my jacket pocket. Dad opens the door and Traci, and I walk inside. My mom and dad go to the kitchen while I help Traci over to the couch. She sits down. I pick up a pillow and place it underneath her right ankle.

"Thanks," She says.

"You're welcome," I say.

I place my hand on her shoulder. She looks over at me and our eyes meet. I hear her let out a long sigh before she says, "I have something that I've meant to tell you,"

"What is it," I ask.

"I like..." Traci says.

"Antonio, I hate to interrupt but could I see you in the kitchen," Mom calls.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," I call back.

I walk to the kitchen and see my parents smiling.

"Traci was just about to admit her feelings for me," I snap.

"Sorry, sweetie, but I thought she might need an ice pack for her ankle." mom says.

Mom hands me an ice pack from the freezer that she wrapped in a towel.

"Also, I'm going to make Mexican Lasagna for dinner,"

"Sweet, thanks," I say.

"You're welcome,"

I go back to the living room. I put the ice pack on Traci's ankle. I look up at her, and our eyes meet again.

"I like you," Traci blurts.


	12. Antonio's Apartment Sleepover Part 2

Ch 12: Antonio's Apartment Sleepover Part 2

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**AN: Thanks to **

**CrimsonEarth for following.**

**Songheart29 for following and adding this story to your favorites.**

* * *

Antonio's POV

Traci quickly looks down at her lap and starts to blush. I move closer and place my right index finger under her chin then slowly lift her head up. Then slowly move my finger away.

"You look even cuter when you blush. Also, I like you too," I say.

I see a big smile appear on her face. "Good, so what's next?"

"How about we watch a movie on my laptop?" I suggest.

"I like that idea. Could we watch Frozen?" She asks.

"Sure," I answer.

"Why are we watching it on your laptop, is there something wrong with your tv?"

"I haven't bought a DVD player yet," I reply.

"Okay, so you have Netflix?"

I nod and sit down next to her. She sets her head on my shoulder.

"You're not mad that I didn't say something earlier?" Traci asks.

"No, I knew you liked me from the day we met," I answer.

"Especially, what happened with my 'boyfriend' in high school. I had a hard time admitting it to myself," Traci says sadly.

"If you don't want to tell me, that ok," I say.

"It's alright I've told the Jayden and the others. It's only fair that I tell you too." Traci says.

I couldn't believe that those boys thought it was acceptable to treat a girl like she was something for the other students to laugh at or humiliate for their amusement. Halfway through her story she started to cry which made my heart ache even more. When she finished, Traci slowly lifts her head and uses her left hand to dry her tears.

"Antonio, I'm sorry," Traci apologizes.

"You don't have to apologize," I say, as I put my arms around her and give her a soft hug.

Twenty minutes later I hear my mom calling us for dinner. I help Traci to the kitchen. Mom pulls out a chair for her as we approach the table before she picks up two more plates off the counter. After Traci sits down, I push the chair in for her and sit down next to her. Mom places our food in front of us.

"Thank you, Mrs. Garcia, this looks delicious," Traci says politely.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Remember, it's okay for you to call me Camila," Mom says.

"Okay, Mrs. Garcia..Camila." Traci says.

Mom sits down after getting her food. We start eating, after a few fork fulls, dad decided to start up a conversation.

"So, Traci, it looks like your parents have done an excellent job raising a very respectful and well behaved young woman," Dad says.

"Thank you, sir, I'll make sure to tell my mom you said that the next time I call her. Since my parents got a divorce when I was four." Traci says.

"I'm sorry, that must have been a very confusing time for you being so little," Mom says.

"Yes, before they separated in my dad's eyes everything I did was wrong. He never said one encouraging thing to me." Traci says tearfully.

Dad gets up from his chair and walks over to Traci. She looks up at him. Dad picks up napkin and hands it to her. She sets down her glasses and uses it to dry her tears.

"I'm sorry for getting so emotional like that." She apologizes

"It's alright, honey. Is it okay if I give you a hug?" Dad says.

Dad bends down and hugs her before going back to his seat. Ten minutes later we finish eating.

"Antonio, do you think I can borrow your phone to call my mom?" Traci asks.

"Sure," I answer.

I help Traci into the living room. After she sits down on the couch, I leave to get my morpher. I come back and hands it to her.

"Who are you calling?" I ask.

"The others at the Shiba House so they know where I am," Traci answers.

Normal POV

The Rangers finished eating dinner. They sit down in the living room. A few seconds later they hear Traci's Samuraizer ringing. Ji puts it to his ear and says, "Hello,"

"Hi Ji," Traci says.

"Hi Traci, where are you?" Ji asks.

"I'm at Antonio's apartment," Traci answers.

"Okay," Ji says.

"While, I was running through the forest. I hurt my ankle," Traci informs.

"How bad is it," Ji asks.

"It just bruised. I'm going to stay here for a few days." Traci answers.

"Alright, I'll tell the others," Ji says.

Ji hangs up and sets Traci's samuraizer down on the coffee table.

"Traci hurt her ankle, so she's staying at Antonio's apartment," Ji says.

"At least we know where she is," Emily says.

"Yeah, I'm impressed that she gave Antonio her number," Mike says slyly raising his eyebrow.

"I still think you should have told her to come back," Kevin says.

"Kevin, she said that she'll be coming back in three days," Ji says sternly.

"What happened today was stressful for her," Jayden adds.

"Jayden is right. She just needs a little space to figure things out." Ji agrees.

Antonio's POV

Mom and Dad left ten minutes ago to head back to the hotel. Traci and I are sitting on the couch watching "Frozen' on my laptop. We sang all the songs. I love listening to Traci's beautiful singing voice.

"The party scene reminded me that I never went to Prom," Traci sighs.

"How come?"

"My mom didn't have any extra money to buy the dress or the ticket." Traci answers.

Ten minutes later the movie ends. I look down and see Traci fell asleep on my chest. I get up carefully to turn off my laptop. Afterward, I carry her to my room and lay her down on the bed. Before I leave, I place a pillow under her ankle, take off her glasses and set them on the nightstand. Then I tuck her in. I look down at her and smile.

_You may have had a terrible experience with dating in _high school. I promise that things will be much better this time.

I go back to the living room. I take off the cushions and pulls out the bed. I make the bed before climbing in and slowly fall asleep myself really happy that Traci and I are together.


	13. Trusted With Another Disc

Chapter 13: Trusted with Another New Disc

Normal POV

Three days later at Antonio's apartment, Traci walks into the kitchen. Antonio sets a plate with their omelets on it down on the table.

"Morning, Angel, how is your ankle today?" Antonio asks.

"It's still a little sore, but I need to get back to the Shiba House. I said that I'd be back in three days." Traci answers.

"Okay, do you want me to walk with you?" Antonio says.

"No thank you, A-man, I'll be fine," Tracy says confidently.

"A-man," Antonio questioned raising his eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'll come up with a better cute nickname. If you don't like that one," Traci says.

Antonio walks over to her and kisses her on the cheek. "It's fine, I like it,"

"Good, I think we'd better eat before those omelets get cold," Traci says.

At the Shiba House, Mentor Ji and Jayden reveal that the new Power Discs can form the Battlewing. Jayden decides to keep the Tiger Disc. Mentor Ji gives the Swordfish Disc to Kevin. JI is about to tell them who gets the beetle disk when the front door opens. They look towards the hallway and see Traci walk in. She looks over at them.

"Hey guys," Traci says.

"Traci, why did you run away?" Mike asks.

"Didn't you find the note I wrote?" Traci asks.

"Yes, but why were the letters in the note written backward?" Mike asks.

"I was upset when I write it," Traci says.

"The note said, that we deserve a teammate who grew up in a loving home with two parents who loved you. What did you mean by that?" Kevin asks.

"My parents are divorced," Traci says.

"How old were you when it happened," Jayden asks.

"I was four, so that means that my mom was focusing on trying to find us a place to live and a job to make sure that I had food to eat and clothes to wear," Traci says.

"Have you done any formal training?" Kevin asks.

"I've only been training over the summer before my senior year instead of doing what a typical high school student would be during that time," Traci says.

"I'm impressed that you were able to master your symbol power in that short amount of time," Kevin says.

"Thanks, so what are you guys doing ?" Traci says.

"We are about to find out who gets the beetle disk," Mike says.

Traci walks over to them and sits down in the extra chair. She takes off her bookbag and sets it down next to her.

"Who gets the beetle disk?" Traci asks.

Jayden picks up the disk. He hands it to Traci. She slowly extends her right hand out to take it from him. After thinking about it for a second, Jayden watches her quickly put her hand back at her side.

"What's wrong, Traci? JI and I decided that you were the best person to help Kevin and I pilot the Battlewing." Jayden says.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept it. I ran away, and when I come back, you give me a new power disk. It's like you're rewarding me for making a bad decision." Traci says.

"Traci, no one is mad at you for running away. You said that you would come back. You just needed some space to clear your mind about what happened." Ji says.

Mike quickly gets up from his chair and tries to grab the beetle disc."Since you're still hurt, I think I should hold onto the disc till your better."

Mia grabs his wrist and pulls him back down into his chair. "Slow down, Mike.

"Yeah, just because I'm hurt doesn't mean you get it," Traci argues.

"Yes, it does. You said that you didn't want it," Mike snaps back.

"I never said that." Traci snaps.

"Yes, you did," Mike snaps.

Traci decides to end their argument. She extends her hand out again and take the disc from Jayden. Mike gasps in disbelief as Jayden goes back to his chair and sits Red Ranger looks down at Traci's ankle. "Your ankle still looks swollen. Didn't Antonio offer to walk with you?"

"He did, but I wanted to see if I could make it back on my own," Traci says.

"Well, it's time for training," Ji says.

The team except for Traci leaves to change into their training gear. Ji and Traci watched them. Mike trains hard by himself while the others sparred. Twenty minutes later the group goes inside for lunch. Afterward, Traci goes to her room and sits down at the desk. The beetle disc fell out of Traci's hoodie pocket when she took out her morpher to call Antonio. It rolled out the door and stopped in front of Mike. He picks it up just as the gap sensor goes off.

Desperaino begins his attack on the city. The city is filled with rain that upsets the citizens. Green Ranger jokes that everyone has turned into Kevin. Desperaino reveals his plot to the Rangers. He blasts the Rangers to the ground. Blue and Green Rangers prepare to use their Discs. Mike fails to harness the Disc's power. Desperaino uses the opportunity to retreat.

Back at the Shiba House, Mentor Ji lectures Mike for his actions.

"I have one question how did you even get the disc?' Traci asks.

"I found it in the hallway outside your room," Mike answers.

"Why didn't you give it back to me?" Traci snaps.

"I just wanted to help you," Mike replies.

"How is stealing the disc helping me," Traci retorts.

"Mike, hand over your Samuraizer." Ji orders.

"Why they need me," Mike says.

"One, you stole the disc that Ji trusted me with. Two, you selfish actions let the nighlok getaway and not to mention the others could have gotten hurt." Tracy says.

"I wasn't asking you," Mike shouts.

"I'm afraid the Traci is right. You're not ready to be a samurai, till you understand the consequences of your actions." Ji says.

Mike uses Symbol Power to attack Mentor Ji. The leaves of plants in the pot behind Ji wraps around his walking staff. JI struggles to get it free. Traci tries to remain calm when she hears the pt smash as it hits the floor. She jumps and back up into the corner.

Mike sets his Samuraizer down on his chair and picks up his jacket before leaving the room "Whatever,"

The group's attention quickly turns to Traci when they hear her hyperventilating because of the flashbacks from the day her father got drunk at the house at hurt her so bad she ended up in the hospital. They turn around to see her sitting in the corner hugging her knees with her head in between them. Ji walks over to her. She slowly looks up instead of seeing JI's face Traci sees her father's.

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me," Traci says wobbly.

Ji sees the look of absolute fear in her eyes as a few tears start to rolls down her cheeks. As he gets closer to her, Traci quickly gets up and tries to run away. Her right ankle gives out, and she starts to feel dizzy then falls backward. Ji catches her before she hits the floor. The other dash over to them. When her vision clears up enough, this time, she sees Ji's face.

"Mentor, I'm sorry," Traci whispers.

A few seconds later, everyone sees her face turn white before she faints. Jayden leaves and comes back with a bowl and damp rag. Ji lies Tracy down on the floor. He takes the wet rag from Jayden.

"Traci, wake up," He says dabbing the rag on her face.

A minute later, Traci starts to wake up. Ji hands the rag back to Jayden, and he puts the bowl down on the coffee table. Ji carefully helps Traci to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Emily asks.

"I think so," Traci answers.

"Why did you freak out like that after the pot shattered when it hit the floor?" Kevin asks.

"When I was three and a half, my dad was watching me while my mom was at work. I went into the kitchen and saw that my father was drinking even though my mom told him not to." Traci answers.

"Did he get mad and chase after you?" Kevin asks.

"Got mad - yes. Chased after me - no." Traci answers.

"Based on how bad that flashback was, he must have done something worse than just chasing after you," Jayden says.

"Yes, he picked me up by the collar of my shirt and carried me back to the living room. He made sure that either side of my head hit the wall along the way. When we got to the living room, he threw me towards the far back corner. After he punched and kicked me a few times, he smashed the beer bottle in his hand." Traci answers.

"Did he use the shattered bottle to hurt you even more?" Emily gasps.

Traci nods.

"That's terrible," Mia gasps.

"I know, and no matter how hard I try that memory won't go away," Traci says.

"That was a very traumatic event. I have a good friend that can help you talk about your feelings about what happened and help you move past it." Ji says.

"I've never like the idea of spilling my emotions out to a complete stranger. I'd like this memory to go away and move on," Traci says.

"Good, I'll call Dr. Hernandez," Ji says.


	14. Dealing With Childhood Trauma

Chapter 14: Dealing With Childhood Trauma

**AN: Thanks to radarjackson12 for reviewing and following. **

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Normal POV

The next morning Ji decides calls Traci's mom to tell her what is going on.

"Hi, Ji, what's wrong?" Roslyn asks.

"Yesterday Traci had a flashback of the day your ex-husband hurt her with a beer. I thought it would be a good idea for her to visit my friend Dr. Hernandez," JI answers.

"Is Dr. Hernandez a therapist," Roslyn asks.

"Yes, Dr. Hernandez specifically works with victims of child abuse," JI replies.

"I've wanted to take Traci to see a therapist ever since that event happened but I couldn't afford it," Roslyn says.

"Okay, I've scheduled her appointment for 11:30," Ji says.

"Thank you, Ji," Ballade says.

"You're welcome," Ji says.

A few seconds after hanging up he hears a knock on his door."Come in,"

"HI, Mentor, so you called my mom?" Traci says.

"Yes, I did, she is on board with you seeing Dr. Hernandez," JI says.

"That's good. Remember a few weeks ago when that bad thunderstorm hit," Traci asks.

"Yes," Ji answers.

"I stayed the night at the Ruiz house, and Mr. Ruiz is a therapist. We talked a bit about my childhood," Traci admits.

"Did you talk about your father?" Ji asks.

"No, we mostly talked about my life after the divorce," Traci answers.

"You know the best thing you can do to help you to get past the events of your life before the divorce is to talk about it," Ji says.

"I know," Traci sighs.

"We should get going," Ji says looking over at the clock.

Traci nods. They leave and head out the car.

Dr. Hernandez's POV

I got a call yesterday from my old friend JI. He said that one of the teens in his care, Traci, needs my help. I finish setting up my office for my first appointment. My assistant walks in carrying her trusty clipboard.

"Dr. Hernandez, you're eleven thirty is here," He says.

"Okay," I say.

We leave my office and go out to the waiting room. After we enter the room, Ji and Traci walk up to me. Traci is wearing a light pink t-shirt with a picture of a bike on it, a pair of paint splattered jean shorts and a pair of white tennis shoes.

"Hello. JI," I say.

"Hello, Dr. Hernandez, thank you for helping me," JI says.

"You're welcome," I say.

"Could we get this over with please," Tracy says politely.

"Sure, Ji I need you to wait out here," I say.

"Of course," He says walks back to his seat.

I lead Traci to my office. We enter and Traci's rolls her eyes seeing the easel set up in the far corner.

"Dr. Hernandez, I'm not a child. I'm almost eighteen your office is set up to help a young child." Traci says.

"I'm sorry Traci. My next patient is a bit younger than you. Please take a seat," I say gesturing towards the couch.

Traci sits down and stares at her feet. I sit down in my chair and picks up my notebook.

"So, when is your birthday?" I ask.

"In a few weeks on June 3rd," Tracy answers.

"Honey, can you look at me please," I ask.

Tracy slowly looks up.

"I know Ji brought me here to help me get over that time my "father" well- tried to kill me," Traci says.

"Yes, but before we get to that. I'd like to get to know you a little bit better,"

Traci's POV

"Well, I like to sing and draw. I had a tuff time in school after I found out I was dyslexic. The bullies forced one of their friends to date me just to humiliate me. They also had another person in the group to pretend to be my friend." I say flatly.

"I take it afterward you've put up walls around your heart to protect yourself from getting hurt again." Dr. Hernandez says.

"Yes, I know it wasn't the best course to take," I sigh.

"True, but I have a feeling you've met someone who instantly broke down those walls," Dr. Hernandez says.

"Yes, his name is Antonio," I say smiling like a cheerleader.

"I take it from the smile on your face. You're happy that you've found him," Dr. Hernandez asks.

"Yes, after what happened in school. I never thought I'd find anyone who likes me for me." I say honestly.

"Everyone is meant to find someone that makes you feel happy. So, could you please tell me about whatever memories of your father that you remember," Dr. Hernandez says.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly before I start telling my life story. Ten minutes later, I finished I was crying my eyes out. Dr. Hernandez hands me a box of tissues. I take a few out and dry my eyes.

"I'm sorry Dr. Hernandez. Why did my dad treat me the way he did?" I ask.

"It's hard to say, but I have a feeling for father was taking out his frustrations on you since he didn't get the son he dreamed of." Dr. Hernandez answers.

"It's wasn't my fault that I was born a girl," I say trying not to shout.

"I know, so after that drunken incident what happened?" Dr. Hernandez asks.

"My parents got a divorce," I say meekly.

"Have you blamed yourself for the divorce," Dr. Hernandez asks.

"Yes, because it was. If I was born a boy none of this would have had happened," I snap.

"That's not true, a divorce is never the child's fault. I have a feeling that your mom didn't want you to be in that environment anymore." Dr. Hernandez says calmly.

"Okay, so can I leave please," I ask politely.

"Sorry, Traci, not yet. We still have fifteen minutes," Dr. Hernandez says looking at her watch.

"Okay," I sigh.

Dr. Hernandez tells me that we're going to spend the rest of the session using a technique to help me finally move past that memory of when my father got drunk and harmed me. I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but I really wanted it to go away. The last few minutes Dr. Hernandez knocks her glass of water to the floor. I smile when I hear it shatter I didn't have a flashback to the event and wasn't trying to hide in the corner.

"I think you've finally gotten past that memory," Dr. Hernandez says smiling.

"I think so too, thank you for everything Dr. Hernandez," I say.

"You're welcome." Dr. Hernandez says.


	15. Traci runs away again

Chapter 15: Traci runs away again

**AN: Thanks to antaurilover685 for adding this story to your favorites.**

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Normal POV

Traci and Antonio are walking through the forest heading to one of his fishing spots. Traci sits down on a rock. After he casts the line into the Antonio sits down next to her. She sets her head on his right shoulder.

"Traci, when are we going to tell the others that we're a couple?" Antonio asks.

"Maybe on my birthday." Traci answers.

"So, when is your birthday," Antonio asks.

"It's in four days," Tracy says.

"So, I guess we're going to party," Antonio says.

"Actually, I haven't had a birthday party since the divorce. My mom and I would just go to the ice cream shop, rent a movie and stay up late." Traci says.

Antonio looks down at his girlfriend, kisses her on the forehead before he asks,"Are you going to tell the others about your birthday?"

"I probably shouldn't. We are in the middle of saving the world - there isn't any time to party." Tracy says.

Meanwhile at the Sanzu River, Master Xandred is busy and is worried about the Red Ranger's sealing symbol which could potentially trap him forever. Upon this, he sends a Mooger force to attack the city getting the Ranger's attention. Back with Traci and Antonio, she got a call from Jayden about the havoc in the city. Antonio packs up his gear.

"Wait, you're going to help us," Traci says.

"Yeah, I think it's time for my golden debut," Antonio says.

They arrive to see the others using the Battle Wing to defeat the Giant Moogers. After that, the Moogers begin to fight Gold and Silver Ranger.

"Ice Storm," Traci says powering up her spin sword.

She watches Antonio dash up to the frozen Moogers and slashes them into several small pieces. Traci continues to freeze the moogers so Antonio can destroy them. Several more waves of Moggers show up, Jayden and the others run up, but Master Xandred hypnotizes them into a "trance", making them ignore the Rangers by shoving them aside and targeting the Red Ranger. The other Rangers begin to protect Jayden from the Moogers, then Jayden takes Traci's Spin sword and combines her ice powers with his lightning disc to take out the Moogers. The other Rangers begin to wonder who that voice was, with Jayden saying that it could have been Master Xandred, and Kevin is surprised at this.

At the house, Mentor tells Jayden that he, with all Red Rangers, have the sealing symbol.

"That must have been why Master Xandred had the Moogers storm the city," Antonio says.

"Yeah, he wanted to get Jayden to show him the symbol," Mike says.

"I think he wanted to destroy Jayden so he couldn't use the symbol against him," Traci says correcting Mike.

"That sounds like a good explanation to me," Kevin says.

"So, all Jayden need to do is use his Sealing symbol to sealing away Master X and we can go back to our normal lives," Mike says.

"Mike, if the Sealing Symbol was and easy symbol to master. I think Jayden would have used it a long time ago," Traci says.

"Traci is correct, the symbol takes a massive amount of power to make it permanent," Ji says.

"If the symbol runs in Jayden's family does that mean it's his turn to master it?" Traci asks.

"Yes," Ji answers.

In the Netherworld, Master Xandred sends Robtish to defeat the Red Ranger. Meanwhile at the Shiba House, the Rangers are training. They see Antonio and Jayden walk out in their training gear.

"Where is Traci," Antonio asks noticing that she wasn't with the group.

"She went off to work on her new disc," Kevin answers.

"I have one question Antonio, I noticed earlier that you and Traci were holding hands, are you two a couple now?" Mike asks.

"Not yet, we've admitted our feeling for each other - that all," Antonio answers.

A few seconds later they hear the sound of approaching footstep as Traci walks up to them. They see a big smile on her face.

"Guys, you need to see this. I finally unlocked the new zord from that disc." Traci says.

They watch her toss it into the air and uses her blizzard power symbol. A few seconds later they see a small penguin appear. Traci catches it softly in her hands as if falls to the ground.

"Seriously, a penguin. I was hoping for something a little less cute," Mike sighs.

The penguin waddles around in Traci's hand till it faces Mike. It opens its beak squeaks loudly before shooting several icicles at Mike. Traci quickly tosses it into the air and it folds up into is origami form. A few seconds later the gap sensor goes off.

Robtish then appears, challenging the Rangers to a fight. The Moogers fight the Rangers except Jayden, who Robtish fights. Antonio and Emily quickly defeat the moogers, and try to help Jayden, but are quickly defeated by Robtish's seismic attack.

"Antonio," Traci shouts.

While she is distracted one of the mooger kicks her in the stomach that sends her flying across the cannon. She demorphs as soon as she hits the ground. The silver ranger slowly lift up her head to see Jayden and Robtish are busy fighting. A few seconds later sees Deker joins in, in which Robtish is somewhat surprised by this, thinking that Deker is helping Jayden. All three are busy fighting, with Jayden taking another Spin Sword to fend off attacks from Deker and Robtish. All continue fighting until it reaches a stalemate point, in which Jayden's sword is pointed at Deker with another one in his hand, Deker's sword pointed at Robtish, and Robtish's sword pointed at Jayden. Mike runs over to her and helps her up.

"Who is the guy Jayden is fighting?" Tracy asks.

"It's the same guy that showed up when you under that nighlok's spell fighting Jayden," Mike says.

Robtish, unfortunately, dries out, telling Deker that Master Xandred won't be happy about this. Deker then jumps up, everyone except Antonio and Emily stands up. Deker then disappears after Mike yells at him who is he. Then Traci and Mike help up Antonio and Emily, calling Mentor to help them as they are badly beaten up.

Later that night Traci felt guilty about not really doing much to help during the fight. She decides to do something about and packs up her things again - this time, she doesn't leave a note but takes her morpher along with her zord and power discs. She climbs up to her window and does the same thing she did the last time she ran away. This time, she sees Jayden leaving, so she runs up to him.

"Why are you leaving, you're our leader," Traci asks.

"Antonio and Emily got hurt because of me. Why are you running away again?" Jayden answers.

"I failed y'all again. I'm not a strong as my mom after all. I just got my butt kicked my one mooger." Traci answers.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up after one bad fight," Jayden says.

"Maybe you're right, but I want to go after that nighlok," Traci says.

"You can't do it alone - it's way too dangerous," Jayden says.

"So, you going to follow me or what?" Traci asks walking through the gate.

Jayden sighs and follows Traci out the gate.


	16. Finding Common Ground

Chapter 16: Finding Common Ground

**AN: Thanks to k.j.f for following.**

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Normal POV

Ji walks into the recovery room and tries to act like nothing's wrong. Mike is the first not to believe him. "Mentor, you stop pretending. We know that Traci and Jayden are gone."

"I know Jayden feels bad that were are willing to take hits for him, but why did Traci leave?" Mia adds.

"I think that Traci believes that she is holding us back since she isn't as strong as the rest of us," Kevin says.

"She is amazing, I mean she just figured out how to unlock that zord from that disc," Antonio says.

"Plus. she mastered her new weapon in less than a day, too." Emily adds

"They'll come back. We just have to stay focused until they do." Ji says

"What are you are working on? You haven't touched your breakfast," Mia says looking at the full tray of food next to Kevin on the nightstand.

"I've thought it would be a neat idea to combine the megazord with the battlewing," Kevin says showing the drawing to the others.

Traci and Jayden go to the park. Traci sees Aura playing in the sandbox with another girl. They were building a castle. Then she sees a young boy that looked to be a year older than them, walks up. She runs up to them when the other little girl starts to cry.

"HI, Aura is your friend okay?" Traci asks.

"Yeah, Samuel told Sarah that her parents got a divorce because of her." Aura answers.

"Samuel, do you even know what the word divorce means or what it is?" Traci asks turning to face to the boy.

"No," Samuel answers.

"Well, you shouldn't say something like that if you don't know what the word means," Traci says.

"Samuel, you should apologize to Sarah," Aura says.

"No way," Samuel says.

He climbs into the sandbox and starts destroying the sand castle. He laughs proudly before running away towards the jungle gym. Traci crouches down and Sarah slowly looks over at her.

"Hi, Sarah. I'm Traci, I bet you're really scared right now about how everything is going to work now right?" Traci asks.

"Yeah, how did you know," Sarah answers.

"Because my parents got a divorce when I was four." Traci answers.

"Is Samuel right, did mom and dad break up because of me?" Sarah asks.

"Of course not sweetie. Sometimes a mom and a dad can have very different ideas on how to parent their child. If they are way too different then they decide that it's better if they separate so they don't keep fighting and making things scarier for the child." Traci answers.

"Why did your mom and dad get a divorce?" Sarah asks.

"I don't really know my mom never really explained all the details to me. My dad did hit me a lot and yell at me too." Traci answers.

"Did your dad ever hit your mom?" Sarah asks.

"I'm not sure but sometimes when they were fighting it sure sounded like he did." Traci answers.

"Were you really scared when were your parents got into a fight?" Sarah asks.

Traci is about to answers when she hears Aura's mom calling to her. Arua says goodbye to Sarah and runs over to her mom. Sarah mom walks up

"Hello, young lady, thank you for helping my daughter." Sarah's mom says.

"You're welcome," Traci says.

"Mom, Traci's really nice. She even understands how confused I'm feeling because of the divorce." Sarah says.

"Yeah, my parents separated when I was four. Right now my family is just me and my mom," Traci says.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Sarah's mom says.

Suddenly, Robtish and his Moogers attack, in which Traci tells them to get to safety while she distracts them. They nod and run away. She tries to defend himself against the Moogers, but they easily knock her down. Jayden runs up and slashes a few with his spin sword. Then helps her up a few seconds later they see the other Rangers come to help them, and when they are finished they focus on Robtish. Robtish is defeated by all of the Rangers and turns into a Megamonster. The Samurai Rangers then make their Megazord, and Robtish begins to summon his Flying Moogers to create havoc on the Samurais. Traci decides to help out by trying to shoot some down with her penguin zord. She was able to shot a few down, Jayden knew she would use up all her energy if she kept using her penguin zord to attack the moogers.

"Traci changes zords, and combine your leopard zord with the megazord," Jayden says.

"Okay, Jayden," Traci says.

She calls for her leopard zord and combines it with the megazord. Once she is inside Kevin gives her and Jayden his copies of the pages from sketchbook on how to form the Battlewing Megazord. They fly in the air, destroying many Flying Moogers along the way until the Moogers begin to retreat. The Battlewing Megazord however, catches up with them and quickly dispose of them and begin to fight Robtish. They use their Megablade and quickly defeat Robtish. As they head back to the house. Mike notices that Traci and Antonio are holding hands - again.

"So, you two are a couple," Mike says.

"No. we just admitted our feelings. What it's not okay for two people who like each other to hold hands," Traci snaps.

"How about we head deeper into the forest and take the secret way back to the house," Jayden says.

"Would the secret way back involve us having to - I don't know riding horses back?" Traci asks.

"Yes, why you still haven't mastered the horse symbol yet?" Jayden answers.

"No, I know the symbol. It's just I'm afraid of riding horses." Traci says.


	17. Back in The Saddle

Chapter 17: Back in The Saddle

Normal POV

"So, that's why you didn't use the symbol when we got the city after we got the message arrow," Emily says.

"Yes, I was embarrassed. A Samurai is a warrior that ride a horse fearlessly into battle. I'm terrified to ride one by myself." Traci admits.

Jayden takes a few steps forward and places his hand on her shoulder. Traci slowly looks up at him. "Traci, Everybody has something they're scared of,"

"Yes, Jayden's right," Antonio adds.

"I know that, but it's not like Y'all are going to admit them right now," Traci says.

"I have a question, when did you develop this fear?" Kevin asks.

"When I was six, my Uncle Mateo came to visit. He took me to the fair since mom had to work." Traci answers.

"Your mom couldn't get a day off of work," Mike says.

"She did have the day off, but she got called in," Traci says.

"Mike, stop interrupting," Emily says.

"I saw there were pony rides. While I was riding, a squirrel popped out from behind a bush. It reared up, and I fell off. " Traci answers.

"Then what happened," Emily asks.

"I look up, and its front hooves about to stomp down on the leg," Traci answers.

"You should have developed a fear of Horses not riding them," Kevin says.

"I used to be afraid of horses, but I realized how hard it was to be scared them. One of my uncles lives on a ranch," Traci says.

"We could help you get over your fear of riding them," Emily suggests.

"Y'all don't have to do that you know," Traci says.

"That's what friends do for each other, right?" Emily says.

The group nod. They walk into the forest and finding an open field. Traci takes out her morpher then draws the horse symbol. She slowly flips her wrist to activate it. A few seconds later the group sees a light brown horse with white spots and a black main with a white spot on its nose appear in front of them.

"That doesn't look like a war horse," Kevin says.

"I guess I was thinking about one of the horses from my Uncle John's ranch when I activated the symbol," Traci says.

Traci walks over to it. She puts her left foot in the feeling and grabs the reins with her right hand. Before pulling herself up and swings her right leg over a few seconds later feels her foot slip out. Antonio runs up to her and catches her in his arms right before she hits the ground.

Meanwhile a foot away, Lauren and her mentor Aleasa are watching from behind a tree. Lauren wants to reunite with her brother, so she steps out to run over to them. Aleasa quickly grabs her student's wrist and pulls her back behind the tree.

"It's not the time to reveal yourself yet," Aleasa says.

"Why not Aleasa? I'm ready to lead," Lauren answers.

"Because the silver ranger still hasn't accepted the other rangers and your brother as her friends yet," Aleasa answers slowly letting go of Lauren's wrist.

"You're saying that I have to wait till she calls them her friends before I can take my place as the Red Ranger," Lauren asks.

"Yes," Alease answers.

"I'm confused Traci spent an entire summer with Jayden and me at the Shiba house when we were kids. I thought we were her friends," Lauren says.

They continue to watch from their hiding spot and see Antonio help Traci to her feet. He walks back over to the others while Traci tries to get on the horse again.

Traci's POV

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly to shake off the last of my nerves. I lightly tap my heels on the horse's side to tell it to start walking. It slowly takes a few steps forward. I smile as I begin to get used to felling the horses' movements through the saddle.

_I forgot how fun this is. Let's see if I can handle it at a trot,_

I tap my heels again, and it starts to trot. Everything is going great till I see my least favorite woodland creature running across the field - a squirrel. I feel it's about to rear up. I remember my Uncle John told me what to do if a horse is going rears up. I lean forward a bit to tip my upper body towards its neck while staying in the middle of the saddle. I don't pull on the reins I push then towards its mouth. After its feet are back on the ground, I slowly ease it forward be gently squeezing it sides with my legs. Then lead it into a small circle to calm it down. After having it do a few right and left turns I ride back up to the everyone.

"When did you learn how to stop a horse from rearing?" Mike asks.

"From my Uncle John," I answer.

"That was impressive, I'd always bail out whenever it happened back home," Emily says.

"Thank you,Emily. Are we going to ride back to the house or not?" I ask.

"You bet," Antonio says.

I guide my horse back so the others have enough space to activate their symbols. I let Jayden lead us back to the house. I click my tongue and taps its side again, and I ride off down the path.


	18. A visit From Family

Chapter 18: A Visit From Family

**AN: Thanks to Jack Rusell for adding this story to your favorites and for following.**

* * *

Normal POV

The next morning, Traci and Ji are waiting at the airport for Traci's Uncle John and Aunt Ptera flight from Texas to land. Traci taps her fingers on the armrest of her seat as the boredom starts to set in. A few minutes later she hears her Samuraizer ring. "What's up?"

"There is a nighlok attack at the pier," Jayden says.

"I'll meet you there," Traci says.

Traci slowly looks over at her mentor. Ji nods and she quickly runs out of the airport. Traci arrives at the pier.

"How come none is running away screaming?" Traci asks.

"I don't know, that is weird," Mike says.

Traci looks over at Jayden and notices that he was in some kind of trance. "Hey, Jayden, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just got a strange feeling that someone is watching me, that's all." Jayden answers.

Antonio bends down and removes a small gap sensor out of the drain next to him to examine it. "Something doesn't smell right here. The gap sensor doesn't looked damage, so something must have activated it."

"Let's head back to the house," Jayden says.

The group walks back up the steps and then see a boy sitting on a bench. He is around nineteen around 5'7'' has black hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark blue shirt faded blue jeans and a pair a black cowboy boot with flames on the toes along with the matching cowboy hat with the same flames design along the rim.

"Howdy Cuz," The boy says.

"Howdy to you too Zackary," Traci says.

"Traci, look at you. You're even prettier than the apple orchard the day after all the flowers budded." Zachary says.

"Zach is a good thing I'm your cousin. I hope you don't use that as one of your pick up lines." Traci says.

"Why do you think it would help me score a date?" Zach asks.

"No, you should stick with some of the old ones that worked when our folks were kids." Traci answers.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your handsome cousin," Mia says.

"Sorry Mia. Everyone this is my cousin Zachary. Zachary these are my new friends," Traci says.

The group takes turns introducing themselves to Traci's cousin. They continue back to the house. The whole way Zachary noticed how his cousin and Antonio were holding hands and acting like how a young couple usually acts when they are together. Ten minutes later they walk inside the house, and Ji greets them in the living room. Along with Traci's Uncle John and Aunt Ptera.

"That was a quick fight," John says.

"These was no fight, Uncle John," Traci says.

"So, why did you three come here?" Kevin asks.

"We wanted to be here for Traci's birthday," John answers.

Later that night, Jayden is practicing writing kanji when a strange eye appears behind him. The other rangers arrive, and Jayden feels another gust of wind, which the other Rangers don't feel. They search the house, and Jayden nearly decapitates Emily with his Spin Sword. Jayden searches for the thing in the training room, but to no avail. He heads into the bathroom, washing his face with water while the presence disappears.

The next Morning Antonio and Traci go to docks. He hands out the flyer that Traci improved with her amazing artwork. She drew a less cartoon fish on top of a grill. The border has fishing poles with fish on the hook.

"Traci, you're an incredible artist. These flyers look amazing." Antonio says.

"Thanks, I'm glad to help my new boyfriend," Traci says.

After Antonio hands a flyer to a girl walking past them. He turns to face her to see Traci's cheeks start to turn pink. "You know you look even cuter when you blush,"

A few seconds later their morphers go off, Mentor Ji tells them that Jayden went to the Spring Valley Park solo. They run off to meet up with the others. On the Sanzu River, Jayden is being watched by the Nighlok Vulpes, who speaks with Octoroo about spying on Jayden, though Vulpes says it's harder to do since Jayden could sense him, but his "Enchanted Eye" could see everything. Octoroo is more worried about Jayden mastering the sealing symbol that would seal Master Xandred in the Netherworld forever. Vulpes then catches Jayden practicing writing the symbol, but Jayden had instead created fog from it, forcing Vulpes to go out to the real world to find him.

Vulpes emerges from the Netherworld. The Lion Folding Zord grabs Vulpes' mirror, and Jayden appears from the water and fights Vulpes. He explains that he chose Spring Valley because the water on Earth was purer than that of the Netherworld's Sanzu River, thus blocking Vulpes spell. Jayden destroys the mirror, but Vulpes' retaliates with a tornado. The team arrives to see Jayden fighting Vulpes, but he goes down to his knee. Vulpes says that although Jayden saw through him, the stress from all of the spells took their toll on Jayden's body. They morph, and Traci uses her blizzard symbol to knock Vulpes away.

"Nice work Chica, man I'm glad you're on our side. That looked really strong." Antonio says.

"Thanks," Traci says.

Traci is happy that she is a ranger right now because her helmet is covering up that she is blushing again after Antonio compliments her again.

"Traci, I have and idea on how to beat this creep," Antonio says.

"What's your idea," Traci asks.

"Could you use that same symbol again then I finish it off with my best move," Antonio answers.

Traci nods and draws the blizzard symbol again. While Vulpes is blinded, Antonio uses his super speed and slashes the nighlok into tiny pieces. Then Vulpes grows to giant size, and the Rangers morph again into Mega Mode and form the Battlewing Megazord. However, Vulpes vanishes from sight and starts attacking the Megazord from different angles. Seeing the Rangers in trouble, Antonio calls for the Octozord and enters Mega Mode. The Octozord gets on top of Vulpes and covers him in ink, uncloaking him.

"Great going Antonio," Traci says.

"Thanks," Antonio says.

"We've got it from here buddy," Jayden says.

The team activates their mega blades to finish off Vulpes. Antonio exits the Octozord while the others leave the Megazord. Then group demorphs before they start to walk back to the Shiba house.

"I was going to ask this earlier, but how come you didn't mention your birthday to us before?" Jayden asks.

"We are saving the world after all. I thought we should stay focused on that instead of my birthday," Traci answers.

"We should do something," Emily suggests.

"Y'all don't have to do anything really," Traci says.

"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't at least throw you a party," Emily says.

"That's not a good idea, trust me," Traci says.

"Why," Emily asks.

"Something always went wrong when my mom tried to plan a party. Plus after the divorce, they wasn't a lot of extra money for cake and throw a party." Traci answers.

"What about your thirteenth birthday?" Kevin asks.

"My uncle Jorge and Aunt Adrienne came to visit. Jorge took us out to dinner at a nice restaurant," Traci answers.

"What did you have for dinner," Antonio asks.

"We went to an authentic Mexican restaurant," Traci answers.

"What did you have," Emily asks.

"Chicken enchiladas," Traci replies.

"You didn't have cake on your birthday?" Mike gasps.

"I did we went to the bakery and my uncle bought a double chocolate fudge filled cake." Traci answers.

They arrive at the house and Traci went to her room to go call her mom. The others go to the living room

"Even though Traci said not to throw her a party we should do it anyway," Mike says.

"I was thinking the same thing," Jayden says.


	19. Antonio Finally Moves in

Chapter 19: Antonio Finally Moves in

Normal POV

The next morning Traci is at Antonio's apartment helping him pack.

"I'm glad you're moving into the Shiba house in all. This place is nice aren't you going to miss it?" Traci asks.

"Maybe a little but the lease is up at the end of the month."Antonio answers.

"Can't you just buy the apartment again?" Traci asks.

"I could, but I'd rather find another place that way my parents wouldn't have to stay in a motel whenever they came to visit." Antonio answers.

"I forgot to say this before, but you're parents are nice," Traci says.

"Thanks, I can't wait to meet your mom," Antonio says.

They finish packing up the last few box and carry them out to the car. Antonio closes the trunk, then he and Traci get inside. The drivers take them back to the Shiba House. After Antonio got settled in, the team meet up in the living room.

"So, how did you become the Gold Ranger?" Traci asks.

"When Jayden and I were kids, we'd practice together." Antonio answers.

"After I had found out he was moving away I gave him the Octozord," Jayden says.

"One day I was training at the beach and figured out that I could communicate to the Octozord Via texting. I built myself a morpher and the rest is history." Antonio says.

A few seconds later the gap sensor goes off. JI tells them the attack is at a construction Rangers arrive on the scene, and the Moogers are quickly defeated. Steeleto has his focus on Jayden and Antonio after again easily beating the other Rangers. Steeleto uses all his Body Blades, but Jayden and Antonio managed to fend them off and use their moves to defeat him quickly.

Steeleto then turns into a Mega-Monster, and the Rangers form the Samurai Megazord. Traci summons her new penguin zord.

"Antonio I have an idea let's combine the octozord with my penguin zord," Traci says.

"I'm game," Antonio says.

The octozord floats over to the penguin zord. It combines with Traci's penguin; its hold one set of tentacles in one flipper like a shield and the head that has turned into a sword in the other. Traci looks to her left and sees Antonio appear in the cockpit next to her.

"A penguin with a sword," Steeleto laughs.

"This penguin is going to help you chill out Steeleto," Traci says.

"Yeah take this, ice breath," Antonio says.

The penguin puts the shield in front of them and a gust a wind blows out of it along with hail stones. Steeleto groans as the stones hit him and spins around before turning into an ice statute.

"Alright Jay, he's all yours," Antonio says.

"Thanks, good work you two," Jayden says.

Antonio and Traci watch the megazord slice Steeleto. He falls over and explodes. They get out of the megazords and start to walk home.

"How about we have a fish fiesta when we get home," Antonio suggests.

"I was thinking since my family is visiting we could have a barbecue and maybe do a bonfire afterward," Traci says.

"That sounds even better; I'm in," Antonio says.

"So am I," Emily says.

Later that night, Traci's uncle John is manning the grill. Traci sets her Aunt's famous Peach Cobbler down on the counter.

"Thanks for making your Peach Cobbler Aunt Ptera," Traci says.

"You're welcome Sweetheart it wouldn't be a barbecue without it," Ptera says.

"How about do a little line dancing before dinner," Zackary says.

"Sorry cuz, you'll have to some them. You know I have two left feet," Traci says.

"Sweetheart it's just with your friends they won't laugh," Ptera says.

"I'm still a little tired from the battle," Traci says.

Zachary presses play on his IPod and "I Want My Goodbye Back" starts to play. Everyone walks over to the 'Dance Floor'. Zachary shows everyone what to do. Traci smiles seeing everyone having fun. Antonio leaves the group.

"Come on Traci, we need the whole team on the dance floor," Antonio says gently grabbing her wrist.

Traci tries her best to stay in her seat. Eventually, she gives in "Okay, Antonio I'll go."

"Great." Antonio says leading her over to the 'dance floor.'

Zachary smiles seeing his cousin dancing out of the corner of his eye. The group dances to a few more songs till Ptera calls them for dinner.

'This barbecue sauce is incredible," Emily says.

"Thank you, Emily, for its a family recipe," John says.

Twenty minutes later everyone finished eating; the group cleans up. Afterward, Traci finds a safe place to put the portal fire pit. John puts some charcoal inside it then lights it. Then the others bring some chairs over for everyone. After everyone one is sitting, John starts to play "My Guy," then they hear Traci's Aunt start to sing.

"I guess I know where you got your amazing singing voice from," Antonio says hearing Ptera's beautiful singing.

"Oh you," Traci says giving him a friendly shove.

After he regains his balance, she laces her fingers in between his. Then they look over at each other and smile before going back to watching the fire dance in the night sky.


	20. Silver and Gold Unite

Chapter 20: Silver and Gold Unite

Normal POV

The next morning after breakfast, the team is having a meeting in the living room. Traci sees a lobster sitting in a small bowl of water on the table.

"That zord isn't going to crawl out of there is it?" Traci asks.

"No, the Clawzord was severely damaged in battle many years ago," Ji answers.

"I'm going to fix it. All I need to do is text some new symbols to reprogram it, and it will be helping us take down giant nighloks in no time," Antonio says.

"Do you think you could upgrade my morpher text the symbols would be so much easier for me," Traci says.

"That's not a good idea," Kevin says.

"What's so wrong about trying a different approach to fighting the nighlok," Traci says.

"Nothing but Antonio is just a techie, not a samurai," Kevin says.

"Yes, he is. Antonio is willing to do whatever it takes to defend the innocent and everything that is still good in this crazy world we live in now. Isn't that what it means to be a samurai?" Traci asks.

"Well, yes, but he wasn't born into the samurai life like we were," Kevin says.

"So, by your logic, I'm not a real samurai because I had to teach myself a lot of my symbols and how to use my sword," Traci says.

"Why didn't your mom help train you?" Kevin asks.

"After the divorce, my mom and I moved into a one-room apartment. My mom had to work two jobs to make enough money to pay the rent, car insurance and buy groceries for the month. I'm sorry if my mom thought that having a roof over my head was more important than training me," Traci answers.

"Kevin, we accepted Antonio as a member of the team remember?" Emily says.

Kevin doesn't say a word he just picks up the book he was reading off the table and leaves the room.

"I'm sorry I ruin the meeting," Traci says.

"Traci, you don't have to apologize," Ji says.

"Yeah, I appreciate that you stood up for me," Antonio says.

"You're welcome Antonio," Traci says.

A few hours later Traci and Antonio were at the pier. Traci is one playing her Vihuela and looking out at the ocean. She finished playing "Happy." and is about to play "Fight Song." When someone places their hand on the neck and yanks, it out of her hands. Traci looks up and sees Tammy and Sally standing in front of her.

"You should be playing an American made instrument, not from Mexican made one," Tammy says.

"We can fix that, right Tammy?" Sally says.

Tammy nods. She snaps the head off of Vihuela off the neck. Then drops it and Traci hears a splash as it falls into the water.

"Stop, my Uncle Jorge gave that to me," Traci shouts.

"Sorry we're not finished yet," Tammy says.

Tammy sets in down flat on one of the beams. After Sally and her take stomping on it. Traci feels her heart break into tiny pieces with every new hole that appears in the body. The girls chuckle as they start walking away.

"I'm sorry Uncle Jorge and Aunt Adrienne," Traci says.

Traci carefully picks up her Vihuela, puts it back inside the case then slowly closes the lid. She was unaware the Day was watching through a gap. The nighlok sensed how special her instrument was to her feeling pain in her heart every time Traci's heartbreak when the bullies stepped on it. Dayu runs her fingers across the body of her Harmonium before she closed the gap. Traci stands up and heads back to the house. She gets back to the house, walks inside and sees everyone is sitting in the living room. Mia notices Traci's eyes are glossy like she wants to cry.

"Traci, what happened?" Mia asks.

"I ran into those bullies again." Traci answers.

"They didn't hurt you did they?" Antonio asks.

"Not physical but they did break my heart." Traci answers.

"How did they do that," Mike asks.

Traci walks over to them. She sets the Vihuela case on the coffee table. The groups face dropping open in disgust seeing the damage Tammy and Sally inflicted on Traci's Vihuela.

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry, I know how much your Vihuela means to you," John says.

"Cuz, why didn't you try to stop them?" Zackary asks.

"I told them to stop, but they just kept going," Traci answers tearfully.

Traci didn't want everyone to see her cry. She runs outs of the house. Antonio looks over at Jayden. He nods to his best friend. Antonio runs out to follow her. Traci reaches the forest and hears Octoroo snickering she dries the tears. A few seconds later Antonio catches up to her.

"Traci, why did you run away," Antonio says.

"I didn't want everyone to see me cry again," Traci says.

Then Antonio hears Octoroo snickering. They go to the site of the laughter, and try to contact Jayden and the others, but Octoroo's secret barriers jam their signals.

Octoroo discovers them and fires a blast at a rock, causing them to morph. Antberry then fights them and uses his Sanzu Slime attack to make their weapons slippery. Antonio and Traci try to fight their best, but Octoroo then blasts them from a far distance. Octoroo then gets displeased at Antberry because his slime had dulled the weapon, and Octoroo then tells him to start sharpening it and sends the Moogers on a hunt for Traci and Antonio.

Antonio and Traci are sitting behind a rock. Traci watches Antonio trying to call the others again.

"Were you able to contact the others," Traci asks.

"No, the signal still can't get through. That barrier must extend out pretty far," Antonio answers.

They head back to where they first battled Antberry but reach a cliff. Traci is struggling, but Antonio then helps her up, and they both fight another group of Moogers. Then Traci sees Antonio rip his scarf in half.

"Why did you do that?" Traci asks.

"If we tie our swords to our wrist that slime won't affect our grip," Antonio answers.

As Antberry has finished sharpening his weapon, he begins to cut the bike. However Traci's Leopard Zord attacks him, and the Mooger is holding the bike, causing the axe to fall into the well. They quickly defeat the Moogers and lead Antberry and Octoroo out to a clearing.

Back at the house, Jayden and the others are worried that Traci and Antonio aren't back yet. They leave to find them. When they arrive, Octoroo knows that he and Antberry will be defeated, so he sneaks out through a gap leaving Antberry takes all of them on, and gets destroyed.

The Rangers make the Octo Spear Megazord, using the Octozord for the spear. Traci freezes Antberry with the blizzard made by her leopard zord so he couldn't use his slime on the others. They use their Megablade, which shocks Antberry and destroys him at the same time.

The team returns to the Shiba house. They walk into the living room. Traci closes the lid to the Vihuela case and it about to take it back to her room.

"Traci, do you think I could see that," Antonio asks.

"I guess so, but why?" Traci answers.

"You trust me, don't you," Antonio says.

Traci nods. She gives the case to him. They walk to his room. Antonio sets the case on his desk.

"How about we head to my fishing spot for a little R and R?" Antonio asks.

"Sure, that sounds nice," Traci answers.


	21. Traci's Birthday

Chapter 21: Traci's Birthday

Normal POV

Antonio is in his room hard at work fixing Traci's Vihuela. He takes a short break to let the paint dry underneath the fretboard where he painted Traci's name and got to work programming the clawzord. While the Rangers along with Traci's Aunt and Uncle, and Zachary, are making decorations to put up in the living room for Traci's birthday tomorrow.

"Are you sure that we'll be able to pull this off," Kevin asks.

"I know we can, so what about the cake?" Jayden answers.

"I'd make it, but it's too hard without risking that Traci finds out what we're planning," Ptera says.

"I know she'd love to have one of your homemade cakes, but we'll have to order it from the bakery," John says.

"What kind of cake are we having?" Mike asks.

"Chocolate Strawberry Devil's' Food," Ptera answers.

"I want to make sure I didn't get Traci the same thing Y'all already gave her. What are Y'all giving her?" Zachary asks.

"Antonio is fixing her Vihuela. I got her a charm bracelet," Emily says.

"I got her and Itunes gift card," Mike answers.

"Kevin and I, put our money together and bought her an art set. Since she told us that she loved to draw and paint," Mia says.

"I took her locket to the jewelry store to have it fixed after a seagull mistook it for food," Jayden says.

"What did you get her son," John asks.

"I got the sheet music for one of the songs from one one her favorite movies when she was little- Lion King 2," Zachary answers.

Meanwhile, Traci is walking around the forest. She sits down on a rotten log a few feet in front of her to take a short break then looks up to the sky.

"Aunt Adrienne, I know that I'd be more in the mood to party if you still were here," Traci says.

She looks back down at her feet. Then hears a twig break like someone stepped on it. The silver ranger quickly stands up and activates the symbol for her sword to defend herself from whatever is approaching her. She gets ready to attack seeing Dayu walks up to her.

"What do you want Dayu?" Traci asks.

"I'm not here to fight you silver ranger. I'm sorry about what happened to your guitar," Dayu says.

"How did you know that those bullies broke my Vihuela? Were you spying on me?" Traci questions.

"Yes I was, and I sensed that your Vihuela meant as much to you as my Harmonium does to me," Dayu says.

"Do you just come here to rub it in my face that I should have tried harder to get the bullies to stop?" Traci asks.

"No, I thought you might want me to have one of Master Xandred's new nighlok pal can help you sneak your revenge on those bullies that hurt you," Dayu says.

Traci wanted the bullies to pay for the pain they caused her but was on the fence whether this was a good idea or not. Then her morpher goes off, and she sees Dayu heading back to the Netherworld through a gap.

"Consider my offer Silver Ranger," Dayu says.

Back in the city, Splitface, a Nighlok who steals spirits, attacks a business person and several other citizens taking their souls. Splitface quickly takes down Mike, Antonio, Mia, Jayden, Kevin. The Nighlok is about to take Emily's spirit Traci runs over to her and pushes her out of the way. Then takes Traci's spirit.

"Traci," Emily shouts.

Emily runs over to Traci. She sets down her sword and picks up Traci holding the silver ranger close to her to keep Traci safe.

"I wanted the yellow ranger's spirit, but she will do," Splitface says.

He mocks the other Rangers, and tells them that they only have twenty-four hours to defeat him or Traci and 54 other people, who he stole spirits from, will be asleep forever. Splitface then tells them he is going back to the Netherworld and is never coming back.

The next morning, Traci's Birthday, in her room. Emily spent the night looking after her. She pats a damp cloth on her forehead. John walks in and offers to take over that way Emily could get some breakfast.

"Hang in there sweetheart, I know your friends will save you," John says kissing her on the forehead.

He sees her eyes flutter as he sits back down in the chair. He calls,"Everyone Traci is awake," The Rangers along with Ji runs into the room. John hands Traci a glass of water.

"Hey, everyone you don't have to pretend that I'm okay. I know I'm not," Traci says.

"Why did you take that hit for me," Emily asks.

Traci tries to answers Emily's question but slowly starts to fall back to sleep. The Rangers head back to where they first battle Splitface.

"I wish I knew why Traci let the nighlok take her spirit instead of mine," Emily says.

"We'll find out after we beat this nighlok," Jayden says.

"How the nighlok said it won' t leave the netherworld," Mia says.

Suddenly, Antonio appears saying he knows how to save Traci and everyone else. The Rangers use their symbol power to activate Claw Zord, and summon the Nighlok. Splitface can't use his special power, Body Swarm, because Antonio marked him. Antonio uses Claw Zord to defeat Splitface and return the spirits because without his plan they'd never be able to bring the nighlok out of the Netherworld.

The team walks through the front gate and see Traci standing on the front porch. She walks down the stairs just as Antonio runs up and gives her a big hug before picking her up and spinning her around.

"Traci, I'm glad that you're okay," Antonio says

'Me too," Traci says.

"Traci, why did you let the nighlok take you spirit in place of mine," Emily asks.

'I knew if your spirit got taken, Emily. We wouldn't have a megazord, and everyone would be in big trouble when the mega monster showed up," Traci answers.

After dinner, Traci walks down the hallway to the living room. She looks around and sees the "Happy Birthday Traci" banner on the wall to her right. Then her friends and family jump out and shout "Surprise, Happy Birthday" as they toss confetti into the air.

"I can't believe Y'all we able to do this so quick," Traci says.

Antonio walks over to her and says, "We did a lot of help from your family," Traci is trying not to cry because this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for her. They walk over to the table, and Traci sits down. Antonio cover her eyes so her Uncle could pick up the cake off the other table to put it in front of her.

"A birthday party isn't complete without a cake," Antonio says removing his hands.

Traci's eyes light up seeing her favorite cake in front of her. "Aunt Ptera did you make it?"

"Sorry, Darling, we got it from the bakery," Ptera answers.

"Come on Cuz, blow out the candles before it becomes inedible due to being covered in candle wax," Zachary says.Traci chuckles before she closes her eyes takes a deep breath and blows out the candles. After everyone had some cake, Jayden hands Traci his present. She smiles after opening the small box and seeing what's inside.

"You got my locket fixed, thank you Jayden," Traci says putting back where it belongs around her neck.

"You're welcome," Jayden says.

Four presents and thank yous later, it was time for Antonio to give Traci his gift. He leaves and asks Zachary to cover Traci's eyes again. Antonio returns and sets the Vihuela case down in front of Traci. He nods and Zachary removes his hands.

"Antonio, did you do what I think you did?" Traci asks tearfully seeing the Vihuela case in front of her.

"Open the case and find out," Antonio answers.

Traci slowly puts her fingers on the latches and flips up the lid. Tears of joy stream down her face seeing her Vihuela. Now it has her name painted underneath the fretboard along with two roses painted on the top corners of the body. She takes it out after attaching the shoulder strap to it. Everyone sees a huge smile on her face as she starts to tune it.

"Antonio, it's beautiful, I don't know how to thank you," Traci says.

"Traci, those tears of joy and seeing you smile is reward enough for me," Antonio says.

"Antonio do you think we could sing a song?" Traci asks.

"Sure which song?" Antonio answers.

Traci stands up and walks over to where she and Antonio have enough room to perform. Antonio smiles hearing her starting to play "Love is an Open Door," Throughout the song the others smiles watching them dancing and listening to their voices blend perfectly when they sing the chorus. They clap when they finish Traci walks back over to the case to put her Vihuela away.

"So, cuz, are you and Antonio a couple or not?" Zachary asks.

Traci walks back over to Antonio and sets her head on his shoulder. Antonio puts his arm around Traci and pulls her closer to him.

"Yes, we are. I'm sorry everyone. I should have told Y'all sooner, but I wanted to make sure that nothing would go wrong," Traci says.

"I'm happy for you sweetheart," John says.

"Thanks, Uncle John, so what about you guys," Traci asks.

"I think you guys are a perfect couple, I'm all for it," Emily says.

"Same here," Mia adds.

Traci watches the boys and Ji nod confidently. Another big smile appears on her face before Antonio kisses her forehead.

_Antonio fixed my vihuela, and everyone is okay with Antonio and me being a couple. I guess telling them about my birthday wasn't such a bad idea after all. _Traci thinks.


	22. Seeing Daisuke Again

Chapter 22: Seeing Daisuke Again

Normal POV

Traci and Antonio are taking a hike through the forest holding hands after they said goodbye to Traci's family at the airport.

"So, your family from Texas was nice," Antonio says.

"I know, the summer I spent there was one of my favorites," Traci says.

A few seconds later their morphers ring and they run off to where the others the city, several more Giant Moogers arrive, with one of them destroying a nearby building causing panic in the crowd, the Rangers head to the place. They count six Giant Moogers and go on Megamode. Antonio gets Clawzord and Octozord to join in the fight. The regular Rangers then go into the Battlewing Megazord, while Antonio combines Clawzord and Octozord. Traci calls for her zords too. After fighting the regular ground Moogers, flying Moogers come in to join, and the Battlewing Megazord does quick work on them. Then they use their Katana power, Final Strike, to destroy the remaining Giant Moogers.

The Rangers (except Antonio) arrive at the Tengen Gate. They stop by the memorial for the first samurai ranger team battled the Nighlok.

"I remember now. My mom told that Sanzu River flooded the city." Traci says.

"Right, the Rangers won because they never gave up," Jayden says.

"The story also said that the Green Ranger was a prankster," Daisuke says.

"Well. Mike that explains a lot about your personality," Traci says.

"Hey," Mike snaps.

"The Green Ranger's antics drove the Blue Ranger crazy," Daisuke says.

"They still were best friends," Traci says.

"That is correct Traci," Daisuke says.

"Traci, how does the elder guardian know your name?" Kevin asks.

"Remember, I said that I visited Panorama City when I was five. My mom and I came here first to get my mom's morpher." Traci answers.

"Right, shall we get started?" Daisuke says.

The group but Traci follow the younger guardian down the sidewalk. Traci looks back over at the monument. Daisuke walks over to her and places his hand on her shoulder."You have told them about your learning disability have you?"

"No, Daisuke I haven't. Wait, you know that I'm Dyslexic?" Traci says.

"Yes, your mom sent me a letter explaining everything that has happened since the divorce." Daisuke answers.

"They maybe my friends now, but I'm just not ready to tell them yet," Traci says.

Arachintor and his group of Moogers sneak onto the Tengen Gate. The junior gives them something to drink, and then Traci take a sip, they fall to the ground, and telling the others that the drink is poisoned.

A Senior guardian then comes and tells Daisuke that the Nighlok are attacking the Tengen Gate. Moogers attack the guardians, and Octoroo pops up. Daisuke reminds the Nighlok that they were defeated here once, and will be defeated again. Octoroo then attempts to attack him, but the Junior Guardian jumps in Octoroo's way and is badly hurt. He then tries to attack Daisuke, but Traci tells Octoroo not to hurt them. In the courtyard, the others fight off the Moogers.

Meanwhile, Octoroo then intervenes and forces Traci to give up her penguin disk. One of the Rangers then alerts Antonio, who is busy serving fish to Deker, to go to the Tengen Gate. Deker is curious, and instead of eating the fish as Antonio said, follows him.

The four other Rangers are busy fighting Arachnitor when Antonio comes, who throws knives at Arachnitor. Kevin then tells him to go help Jayden, on which Arachnitor comments that "he comes to help you, and you tell him to go away?" and fights the other Rangers with ease. They all are defeated quickly, and he disappears. Meanwhile, Octoroo tells Traci all she has to do is give up power disc, and he'll give her the antidote. A few seconds later she sees Antonio run up, Then he morphs and fights Octoroo, who says that this is a "private" conversation. Deker then comes and finds out that the fisherman, Antonio, is the Gold Ranger. Deker then intervenes and takes Traci with him.

"Hey, come back here with my girlfriend," Antonio shots.

Octoroo disappears behind a gap to the Netherworld, and Antonio goes back for the other Rangers. He finds them badly wounded and calls Mentor to get them help.


	23. Antonio's Rescue Mission

**AN: Thanks to lolajohnson94 for add this story to your favorites and for following.**

Normal POV

Deker wades through a lake. He drops Traci into the water. The silver ranger instantly wakes up when she feels the water hit her skin. She coughs to clear her lungs then looks up to see Deker standing in front of her.

"Why were you trying to drown me?" Traci asks.

"I wasn't trying to drown you. The water in this lake will purge Octoroo's poison from your body." Deker answers.

Traci takes a deep breath before she goes back underneath the water. She swims around for ten minutes before Deker helps her out of the lake to a nearby cave. Meanwhile, at the Shiba House, Antonio and Mentor are standing outside the recovery room.

"Man, they got banged up by Archinator," Antonio says.

"Yes, the nighlok continue to get stronger as the Sanzu River leaks into our world," Ji says.

They head to the living room. Ji hands the black box to Antonio. He sits down on a chair and takes the lid off the case that has the Black Box inside.

"We need you to program this as soon as you can," Ji says.

"But the first Samurai Red Ranger couldn't finish this," Antonio says.

"Yes, it will be tough since you don't have mastery of symbol power like the others. We believe that you can do it because of you high-tech skills." Ji says.

"But Traci is still out there I need to rescue her," Antonio argues.

"Antonio, you need to focus on the task at hand." Ji says.

Back in the cave, Traci tries to stand up. A few seconds later she drops back down to the cave floor since her body refused any movement. She rolls onto her side to look over at Deker.

"The lake water healed you, but you need to take it easy while your body recovers its strength," Deker says.

"So, Deker, why did you help me?" Traci asks.

"You're a lot like me," Deker answers.

"I'm not like you Deker." Traci snaps.

"Yes, you are," Deker says.

"What do you mean?" Traci asks.

"You're keeping a secret from the other Rangers. That proves that you're evil just like me," Deker says.

"It does not. I'm just not ready to tell the others about my learning disability that's all. So do you want to duel me or did you save me just to distract the other Rangers." Traci says.

Antonio's POV

I finish formatting the black box. A few seconds later I feel myself start to fall. I catch myself on the chair in front of me. I blink a few times to shake off the dizzy spell. After I recover, the gap sensor goes off. Then I hear the others run in.

"You need to be resting," Ji says.

"We can't rest when people are in trouble," Jayden says.

"You guys can handle the nighlok. I'll go rescue Traci from Deker," I say.

"No, Antonio you need to finish programming the black box," Ji argues.

"I can't finish it now. The team needs to use their discs to fight the nighlok," I say.

I see the others take out their power discs out of their pockets then hand them to me. "Are you sure that you'll be able to fight the nighlok without these?"

"We'll do our best Buddy," Jayden says

"You're the only person who can program the black box," Emily says.

"She is right, none can match your skills," Kevin says.

"Let's get going team," Jayden says.

Then the team jogs out of the room, "Be careful,"

"Don't worry about us; we'll be fine," Kevin shouts.

I put the black box on a pillow, place everyone's discs around it. I press a few keys on my morpher to start filling the black box with Jay's symbol power. Several small fire kanji float over to the Lion disc. Then a tiny lion zord comes out of it and jumps into the black box.

"One down and four more to go," Ji says.

I press the same button again, but this time, Mia's symbol appears on the screen. After her power is inside the box, I had a hard time adding Kevin's power to it since I didn't have enough strength left. I sit down in the chair next to me, clench my first and let a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry Ji, I don't have enough symbol power left to finish it," I say.

"It okay Antonio, I know you'll try again after you get your strength back," Ji says.

"I think I know how to find Traci though. I can piggyback on one of the global positioning satellites. Then use what's left of my light symbol to triangulate with Traci's samuraizer. " I say.

I smile when I see Traci's location on my screen. I stand up and turn to face mentor. "I know you need me to finish the black box, but I can't do that right now. Please. Let me go rescue Traci,"

"Just go, but take the other's power disc too," Ji says.

I nod, turn back around I put the power discs into my pocket before I run out of the room.

Normal POV

Traci quickly stands up when Deker walks over to her."Do you want to fight me now?"

"No, I need to find another worthy opponent to break my curse," Deker answers.

"So this curse apparently has something against a girl dueling you?" Traci asks.

"No, but I feel the Red Ranger would give me a better duel. You would be a fine sparring partner, though," Deker says.

Traci watches Deker transform in his nighlok form. Traci quickly takes out her sword and gets into a defensive stance.

"Ladies first," Deker says.

Then Antonio jumps in and gets in between them. "I don't think so Nighlok,"

"Antonio, how did you find me," Traci asks.

"I'll explain later. You're in no condition to fight the nighlok." Antonio says.

"Get out of my way fisherman. Your girlfriend agreed to be my sparring partner," Deker says.

"Even is she did. Why would you want to spar her when she is like this, nighlok?" Antonio asks.

"Just go, but know this I will duel the Red Ranger," Deker says.

Then Antonio tosses some dust towards the cave floor that teleports him and Traci out of the cave. After the team battled the mutant nighlok that escaped do to some giant moogers attacking the city. The team had to use the Megazord to fight them. They head back to the house. Traci decided to stay at the house while the others went out get some pizzas. They return to find Traci sitting on the bench near the front porch.

Is keeping my Dyslexia a secret from the others mean that I'm evil, Traci thinks.

Traci turns around and sees her friends walk up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, being kidnapped by a nighlok must have been scary," Jayden says.

"It wasn't that scary since I was unconscious when Deker kidnapped me. I'm fine, really, so what are y'all going to do now?" Traci answers.

"We were going to eat dinner and try to come with a new plan to fight these new nighloks." Jayden answers.

Traci gets up, and the group walks inside the house. She and Antonio let the others go inside so they could talk privately.

"Antonio, thanks for rescuing me," Traci says.

"You're welcome," Antonio says.

"You never told me how you located me," Traci says.

"I used my light symbol power and piggybacked off a global positioning satellite," Antonio says.

"How about we head inside before Mile eats all the pizza," Traci says.

Antonio nods. He laces his fingers in between hers, and they walk into the house.


	24. Traci's Dream Apology

Normal POV

At the Shiba House, the Rangers except for Traci and Antonio are training. A few minutes Traci walks outside wearing a dress with a flower print skirt with a jean jacket over it, and a pair of cowboy boots. She stands on the sidewalk and looks over at her friends.

"Hey, Traci, how come you're not training with us?" Kevin asks.

"It's my turn to make dinner. Since Antonio is working so hard on the black box, I want to make something special for him. I'm heading to the store," Traci answers.

"What are we having?" Mike asks.

"Mexican Chicken Casserole," Traci answers.

Traci leaves her friends so they can train.

At the Sanzu River, Master Xandred lectures Dayu on her failure. He breaks her Harmonium and orders her to forget her past. She leaves the netherworld to find someone to repair her instrument. Dayu sees a musician and plans to capture him. Traci watches the scene and morphs into action. Rhinosnorus enters the scene. Dayu refuses to return to Master Xandred. The Rangers confront the Nighlok as Dayu exists the scene with the musician. The team faces off against the Nighlok while Traci follows Dayu. Antonio races the fight. Rhinosnorus takes the opportunity and blasts him with the smoke from the steamer on his arm. After he puts Antonio to sleep, the Nighlok leaps into an interdimensional portal to chase after Dayu. In the forest, the Silver Ranger and Dayu's battle is interrupted by the Nighlok. Master Ji informs Jayden about the Dream Spell - the victims start having beautiful dreams, but Rhinosnorous eats his dreaming victims in the Dream World, ultimately killing them. The Rangers must enter the Dream World to save everyone from being consumed.

Jayden plans to use his Symbol Power to enter the Dream World. In the forest, Traci dreams about cooking a meal for her mom and dad. Back in the city, the Rangers use Jayden's portal to get Kevin and Mike in the Dream World. They find Antonio, who admires his fish award after winning the fishing tournament. The Rangers try to warn Antonio, but their attempts fail as he is too busy enjoying his dream. Mike and Kevin morph into action to face off against the Nighlok, who has an advantage in the Dream World. Green Ranger has an idea to use the world for their benefit. He grows in his large form to kick the boulder back.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Traci continues to dream. Her father gets up from the table and walks over to her.

"Traci, I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you were little." Her father says.

Then Traci smiles when he gives her a hug. She hugs him back."I'm so glad we're a family again,"

"So, am I sweetheart," Her father says.

Traci is unaware that Dayu is watching the scene play out from the doorway. Back in Reality, the Blue and Green Rangers work together to knock out the Nighlok. The Musician wakes up and retreats. Kevin fires the Hydro Bow, but the Nighlok leaves the scene. Jayden watches as Antonio wakes up. Octoroo sees his opportunity to get Jayden and his Sealing Power. Rhinosnorus grows to his large form. Antonio and Jayden morph into action. The two Rangers summon the Lion and Claw Zords. The zords face off against the Nighloks and Giant Moogers. After a brief battle, Claw Zords performs its finishing attack to defeat the remaining Moogers. Traci wakes up in the forest.

"So, silver ranger, you're holding on to the hope that your father will apologize to you," Dayu says.

"Yes, that's all I want from him," Traci says.

"What about your parents getting back together," Dayu asks.

"I know that won't happen. My mom had tried dating other men to find me a stepfather," Traci answers.

Back in the city, Deker sees his opportunity to challenge Jayden.

In the forest, Dayu attacks Mia and Emily after they show up to protect Traci and walks away. At the warehouse, Deker confronts Jayden and Antonio. The swarm of Moogers enters the scene. Deker transforms into his Nighlok form and defeats the Moogers. Knowing Jayden is still weak, Antonio tries to stop Deker, but he challenges Jayden to a personal duel. Jayden says that he cannot accept the challenge as he is a samurai who protects the innocent. However, Deker tells Jayden that if he doesn't take the challenge, then he will harm random civilians. With this, Jayden accepts the challenge and gives him 24 hours to rest. Deker instructs Jayden to meet at the beach.

At the Shiba House, Antonio makes tea for Traci. She sits down at the table. Antonio walks over hands her a cup before sitting down.

"I'm starting to think that I should just give up on my father ever showing up to apologize to me." Traci sighs.

"Come on angel, don't say that. Maybe he could be afraid to face his demons, that's all," Antonio says.

Mike invites them to the meeting about Jayden's duel. Jayden informs his friends about the challenge. Kevin is furious about Jayden's decision and fails to convince him to decline the challenge as a samurai does not fight unnecessary battles. Mia stands up for Jayden and tells them that he doesn't have a choice. A frustrated Jayden leaves the room to end the conversation Kevin helps Jayden to train against Deker The rest of the gang drink tea in the dining room.

In the morning, Jayden wakes up and heads outside, where his friends give their blessings. Jayden hands leadership of the Samurai Rangers to Traci.

"Are you sure about this Jayden," Traci asks.

"Yes, I am Traci. I know you can handle this," Jayden says.

He also gives Traci the Tiger and Beetle discs in case they need to form the Megazord. She leads the Rangers into battle as Rhinosnorus begins his attack. The Rangers morph into action to face off against the Nighlok. Jayden meets Deker at the beach and face off in the ultimate duel.

In the city, the Rangers continue their fight against Rhinosnorus and the Moogers. Kevin defeats the Nighlok, who grows in this Mega Mode. He takes the lead to form the Samurai Megazord. After a brief battle, the Megazord defeated Rhinosnorous. Antonio watches the fight from below. Jayden and Deker continue their fight as neither can gain the upper hand. In a final move, Deker strikes Jayden critically, but Jayden drops the Spin Sword and grabs it with his left hand, landing a slash on Deker. Deker feels honored from his defeat as he falls from the cliff. An injured Jayden demorphs and takes in the fact that he won.

A few hours later, Jayden and Trac are standing on the platform near the barbecue area. She gives the discs back to him.

"Traci, thank you for leading the team while I battled Deker," Jayden says.

"You're welcome, but I'm not a leader. It's not my place on this team," Traci says.


End file.
